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G.Ca,tUn LI. STATK.S' INDIAN VllOMTIKR IN 1840,

SJtewing t/ie Fosioons uf'the Tribes that have been removed west ofllie.Missisippi-

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF THE

MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND CONDITION

OF THE

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS:

WITH

LETTERS AND NOTES

WRITTEN DURING EIGHT YEARS OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE AMONG THE
WILDEST AND MOST REMARKABLE TRIBES NOW EXISTING.

WITH THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ENaRAVIN&S,

FROM THE

^ut]^or*)S (©rtginal ^Pamttngsi.

BY GEO. CATLIN. n^^-

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IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. 11.

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NINTH EDITION.

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LONDON:

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HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT

GARDEN.

1857.

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^KliiXliD BY J. E. ADLAllD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.

CONTENTS

THE SECOND VOLUME.

LETTER— No. 32.

CaiitonmentLeavenworth, p.l, 15. — Sliiennes, p. 2. — Portraits of, pis. 115, 116. — Floyd's
Grave, p. 4, pi. 118. — Black Bird's Grave, p. 5, pi. 117. — Beautiful grassy bluffs, p. 8,
pis. 119,120. — Mandan remains, p. 9, pi. 121 — Belle Vue, p. 11, pi. 122. — Square
hills, p. 11, pi. 123.— Mouth of Platte, p. 13, pi. 125,— Buffaloes crossing, p. 13,
pi. 126.

LETTER— No. 33.

Grouse shooting before the burning prairies, p. 16. — Prairie bluffs burning, p. 17, pi.
i27. — Prairie meadows burning, p. 17, pi. 128.

LETTER— No. 34,

loways, p. 22, pis. 129, 130, 132— Konzas, p. 22, pis. 133,134, 135, 136.— Mode of shav-
ing the head, p. 23. —Pawnees, p. 24. — Small-pox amongst Pawnees, p. 25. — Major
Dougherty's opinion of the Fur trade, p. 26.— Grand Pawnees, p. 27, pis. 1S8, 139, I4t»
— Ottoes, p. 27, pis. 143. 144.— Omahas, p. 27, pis. 145, 146.

LETTER— No. 35-

St. Louis, p. 29. — Loss of Indian curiosities, &c. — Governor Clarke, p. 30

LETTER— No. 36.

Pensacola, Florida— Perdido, p. 32.— Pine woods of Florida, p. 33, pi. 147. — Santa Ros»
Island, p. 33, pi. 148. — Prophecy, p- 34 — Start for Camanchee country, p. 35.

A A ;

IV

LETTER— No. 37.

Transit up the Arkansas river, p. 36. — Fort Gibson, 1st regiment United States' Dragoons
renewed, p. 38. — Equipping- and starting of Dragoons for the Camanchee country,
p. 38, 39.

LETTER— No. 38.

Fort Gibson, p. 40. — Osages, p. 41. — Portraits of Osages, p. 41, pis. 150, I5l, 152, 3,4,
5, 6. — Former and present condition of, p. 43, 44. — Start for Camanchees and Pawc ee
Picts, p. 44.

LETTER— No. 39.

Mouth of the False Washita and Red River, p. 45. — Beautiful prairie country, p. 45. —
Arkanzas grapes. — Plums. — Wild roses, currants, gooseberries, prickly pears, &c.
p. 46. — Buffalo chase, p. 46. — Murder of Judge Martin and family, p. 47.

LETTER— No. 40.

Sickness at the Mouth of False Washita — one-half of the regiment start for the Caman-
chees, under command of Col. Dodge, p. 49. — Sickness of General Leavenworth,
and cause of, p. 50. — Another buffalo hunt, p. 51.

LETTER— No. 41.

Great Camanchee village, Texas, p. 53. — A stampedo, p. 53. — Meeting a Camanchee war
party, and mode of approaching them, p. 55, pi. 157" — They turn about and escort the
Dragoons to their village, p. 56. — Immense herds of buffaloes, p. 56. — Buffaloes
breaking through the ranks of the Dragoon regiment, p. 57, pi. 158. — Wild horses —
sagacity of — wild horses at play, p. 57, pi. 160. — ^Joe Chadwick and I " creasing " a
wild horse, p. 58. — Taking the wild horse with laso, and '' breaking down, " p. 58,
pis. 161, 162. — Chain of the Rocky Mountain, p. 60. — Approach to the Camanchee
village, p. 61, pi. 163. — Immense number of Camanchee horses — prices of — Capt.
Duncan's purchase, p. 62, 63.

LETTER— No. 42.

Description of the Camanchee village, and view of, p. 64, pi. 164. — Painting a family
group, p. 165. — Camanchees moving, p. 64, pi. 166. — Wonderful feats of riding, p. 65,
pi. 167.— Portraits of Camanchee chiefs, p. 67, pis. 168. 169, 170, 171, 175!.— Esti-
mates of the Camanchees, p. 68. — Pawnee Picts, Kiowas, and Wicos, p. 69.

LETTER— No. 43.

The regiment advance towards the Pawnee village — Description and view of the Pawnee
village, p. 70, pi. 173. — Council in the Pawnee village — Recovery of the son of Judge
Martin, and the presentation of the three Pawnee and Kiowa women to their own
people, p. 71. — Return of the regiment to the Camanchee village, p. 72. — Pawnee Picts,
portraits of, p. 73, pis. 174, 175, 176, 177.— Kiowas, p. 74, pis. 178, 179, 180, 181.—
Wicos, portraits of, p. 75, pi. 182.

LETTER— No. 44.

Camp Canadian — Immense herds of buffaloes — Great slaughter of them — Extraordi'iiii)
sickness of the command, p. 76. — Suffering from impure water — sickness of the men,
p. 77. — Horned frogs — Curious adv^enture in catching them, p. 78. Death of General
Leavenworth and Lieutenant M'Clure, p. 78.

LETTER— No. 45.

Return to Fort Gibson — Severe and fatal sickness at that place — Death of Lieutenant
West, p. 80. — Death of the Prussian Botanist and his servant, p. 81. — Indian Council
at Fort Gibson, p. 82. — Outfits of trading-parties to the Camanchees — Probable conse-
quences of, p. 83. — Curious minerals and fossil shells collected and thrown away,
p. 85. — Mountain ridges of fossil shells, of iron and gypsum, p. 86. — Saltpetre and
salt, p. 86.

LETTER— No. 46.

Alton, on the Mississippi — Captain Wharton — His sickness at Fort Gibson, p. 87. — The
Author starting alone for St. Louis, a distance of 500 miles across the prairies — His
outfit, p. 88. — The Author and his horse " Charley" encamped on a level prairie, p. 89,
pi. 184. — Singular freak and attachment of the Author's horse, p. 90. — A beautiful
valley in the prairies, p. 91. — An Indian's estimation of a newspaper, p. 92. — Riqua's
villageofOsages— Meeting Captain Wharton at the Kickapoo prairie, p. 93. — Difficulty
of swimming rivers — Crossing the Osage, 94. — Boonville on the Missouri — Author
reaches Alton, and starts for Florida, p. 95.

LETTER— No. 47.

Trip to Florida and Texas, and back to St. Louis, p. 97. — Kickapoos, portraits of, p. 98,
pis. 185, 186. — Weas, portraits of, p. 99, pis. 187, 188. — Potowatomies, portraits of,
p. 100, pis. 189, 190. — Kaskasias, portraits of p. 100, pis. 191, 192. — Peorias, portraits
of, p. 101, pis. 193, 194.— Piankeshaws, p. 101, pis. 195, 196.— Delawares, p. 101.
pis. 197, 198.— Moheconneuhs, or Mohegans, p. 103, pis. 199, 200. — Oneidas, p. 103,
pis. 201.— Tuskaroras, p. 103, pi. 202.— Senecas, p. 104, pis. 203, 204, 205.— Iroquois
p. 106, pi. 206.

LETTER— No. 48.

Flatheads, Nez Percys, p. 108, pis. 207, 208.— Flathead mission across the Hocky Moun-
tains to St. Louis. — Mission of the Reverends Messrs. Lee and Spalding beyond the
Rocky Mountains, p. 109. — Chinooks, portraits, p. 110, pis. 209, 210. — Process of flatten-
ing the head — and cradle, p. Ill, pi. 210|. — Flathead skulls, p. lll.-^Similar custom of
Choctaws — Choctaw tradition, p. 112 — Curious manufactures of the Chinooks — Kliaka-
tacks — Chijhaylas, and Na-sis Indians, p. 113, pi. S;10|. — Character and disposition
of the Indians on the Columbia, p. 114.

VI

LETTER— No. 49.

Shawanos,p. 115, pis. 211, 212, 213, 214. — Shawnee prophet and his transacrions, p. 117.
— Cherokees, portraits of, p. 119, pis. 215, 216, 217, 218. — Creeks, portraits of,
o 122, pis. 219, 220.— Choctaws, portraits of, p. 122, pis. 221, 222.— Ball-play, p. 124,
in plates 224, 225, 226. — A distinguished ball-player, pi. 223.— Eagle-dance, p. 126,
pi. 227. — Tradition of the Deluge — Of a future state, p, 127. — Origin of the Crawf sh
hand, p. 128.

LETTER— No. 50.

r'ort Snelling, near the Fall of St. Anthony — Description of the Upper Mississippi,
p. 129, 130. — View on the Upper Mississippi and " Dubuque's Grave," p. 130, pis. 128,
129._Fall of St. Anthony, p. 131, pi. 230.— Fort Snelling, p. 131, pi. 231.— A Sioux
cradle, and modes of carrying their children, p. 132, pi. 232. — Mourning cradle, same
plate.— Sioux portraits, p. 134, pis. 233, 234, 235, 236.

LETTER— No. 51.

Fourth of July at the Fall of St. Anthony, and amusements, p. 135-6. — Dog dance of the
Sioux, p. 136, pi. 237. — Chippeway village, p. 137, pi. 238. — Chippeways making the
portage around the Fall of St. Anthony, p. 138, pi. 239. — Chippeway bark canoes —
Mandan canoes of skins — Sioux canoes — Sioux and Chippeway snow-shoes, p. 138,
pi. 240. — Portraits of Chippeways, p. 139, pis. 241, 242, 244, 245, — Snow-shoe dance,
p. 139, pi. 243.

LETTER— No. 52.

The Author descending the Mississippi in a bark canoe — Shot at by Sioux Indians, p. 141.
— Lake Pepin and " Lover's Leap," p. 143, pi. 248.— Pike's Tent, and Cap auTail.
p. 143, pis. 249, 250.—" Cornice Rocks," p. 144, pi. 251.— Prairie du Chien, p. 144,
pi. 263. — Ball-play of the women, p. 145, pi. 252. — Winnebagoes, portraits of, p. 146,
pis. 254, 255, 256.— Menomonies, portraits of, p. 147, pis. 258, 259, 260, 261, 262,
263. — Dubuque — Lockwood's cave, p. 148. — Camp des Moines, and visit to Keokuk's
village, p. 149.

LETTER— No. 53.

The Author and his bark canoe sunk in the Des Moine's Rapids, p. 151. — Tlie Author left
on Mascotin Island, p. 15^. — Death of Joe Chadwick — The " West," not the " Far
West," p 155. — Author's contemplations on the probable future condition of the Great
Valley of the Mississippi, p. 156 — 159.

LETTER— No. 54.

Cotpau des Prairies, p. 160.— Mackinaw and Sault de St. Mary's, p. 161, pis. 264, 265.—
Catcning white fish — Canoe race, p. 162, pis. 26b, 267. — Chippeways, portraits of,
p. 162, pis. 263, 269. — Voyage up the Fox River, p. 162. — Voyage down the Ouisconsin

Vll

in bark canoe, p. 163. — Red Pipe Stone Quarry, on the C6teau des Prairies, p. 164,
pi. 270. — Indian traditions relative to the Red Pipe Stone, p. 168, 169, 170. — The
"Leaping Rock." p. 170. — The Author and his companion stopped by the Sioux, on
their way, and objections raised by the Sioux, p. 172, 173, 174, 175. — British medals
amongst the Sioux, p. 173. — Mons. La Fromboise, kind reception, p. 176. — Encamp-
ment at the Pipe Stone Quarry, p. 177. — Ba'tiste's " Story of the Medicine Bag,"p. 178.
— " Story of the Bog," prelude to, p. 180. — Leaving the Mandans in canoe, p. 181. —
Passing the Riccarees in the night, p. 182. — Encamping on the side of a clav-bluff,
in a thunder-storm, p. 183.

LETTER— No. 55.

"Story of the Dog" told, p. 188 to 194. — Story of Wi-jun-jon, (the pigeon's egg head.)
p. 194 to 200. — Further account of the Red Pipe Stone Quarry, and the Author's
approach to it, p. 201. — Boulders of the Prairies, p. 203. — Chemical analysis of the
Red Pipe Stone, p. 206

LETTER— No. 56.

Author's return from the C6teau des Prairies — " Laque du Cygn," p. 207, pi. 276 — Sioux
taking Muskrats, pi. 277, same page.— Gathering wild rice, p. 208, pi. 278. — View on
St. Peters river, p. 203, pi. 279. — The Author and bis companion embark in a log canoe
at "Traverse de Sioux" — Arrive at Fall of St. Anthony, p. 208. — Lake Pepin — Prairie
du Chien — Cassville — Rock Island, p. 209. — Sac and Fox Indians, portraits of, p. 210,
pis. 280, 281, 282, 283,284, 285, 286, 287, 289.— Ke-o-kuk on horseback, p. 21s;.
pi. 290. — Slave-dance, p. 213, pi. 291. — "Smoking horses," p. 213, pi. 292 Begging-
dance, p. 214, pi. 293. — Sailing in canoes — Discovery-dance — Dance to the Berdash,

p. 214, pis. 294, 295,296. — Dance to the medicine of the brave, p. 215, pi. 297.

Treaty with Sacs and Foxes — Stipulations of, p. 215, and 216.

LETTER— No. 57.

Fort Moultrie. — Seminolees, p. 218. — Florida war. — Prisoners of war. — Osceola, p. 215.
pi. 298. — Cloud, King Phillip. — Co-ee-ha-jo. — Creek Billy, Mickenopah. p. 220, pis.
299 to 305.— Death of Osceola, p. 221.

LETTER— No. 58.

North Western Frontier — General remarks on, p. 223. — General appearance and habits
of the North American Indians, p. 225 to 230. — Jewish customs and Jewish resem-
blances, p. 232, 233. — Probable origin of the Indians, p. 234. — Languages, p. 236. —
Government, p. 239. — Cruelties of punishments, p. 240. — Indian queries on white
man's modes, p. 241. — Modesof war and peace, p. 242. — Pipe of peace dance, p. 242. — •
Religion, p. 242 — 3. — Picture writing, songs and totems, p. 246, pis. 306, 307, 308,
309, 3l0, 311. — Policy of removing the Indians, p. 249. — Trade and small-pox, the
principal destroyers of the Indian tribes, p. 250. — Murder of the Root Diggers and
Riccarees, 252. — Concluding remarks, p. 254 to 256.

VlU

APPENDIX A.

Account of the destruction of the Mandans, p. 257. — Author's reasons for believing chetn
to have perpetuated the remains of the Welsh Colony established Ijy Prince ]Madoc.

APPENDIX B.

Vocabularies of several different Indian languages, shewing their dissimilarity, p. 262.

APPENDIX C.

Comparison of the Indians' original and secondary character, p. 266.

LETTERS AND NOTES

ON THE

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

LETTER— No. 32.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWER MISSOURI.

1 HE readers, I presume, will have felt some anxiety for me and the fate
my little craft, after the close of my last Letter ; and I have the very great
satisfaction of announcing to them that we escaped snags and sawyers, and
every other danger, and arrived here safe from the Upper Missouri, where my
last letters were dated. We, (that is, Ba'tiste, Bogard and I,) are comfort-
ably quartered for awhile, in the barracks of this hospitable Cantonment,
which is now the extreme Western military post on the frontier, and under
the command of Colonel Davenport, a gentleman of great urbanity of man-
ners, with a Roman head and a Grecian heart, restrained and tempered by the
charms of an American lady, who has elegantly pioneered the graces of
civilized refinements into these uncivilized regions.

This Cantonment, which is beautifully situated on the west bank of the
Missouri River, and six hundred miles above its mouth, was constructed some
years since by General Leavenworth, from whom it has taken its name. Its
location is very beautiful, and so is the country around it. It is the con-
centration point of a number of hostile tribes in the vicinity, and has its
influence in restraining their warlike propensities.

There is generally a regiment of men stationed here, for the purpose of
holding the Indians in check, and of preserving the peace amongst the hostile
tribes. I shall visit several tribes in this vicinity, and most assuredly give
you some further account of them, as fast as I get it.

Since the date of my last epistles, I succeeded in descending the river to
this place, in my little canoe, with my two men at the oars, and myself at
the helm, steering its course the whole way amongst snags and sand-bars.

Before I give further account of this downward voyage, however, I must
recur back for a few moments, to the Teton River, from whence I started, and

VOL. II. B

from whence my last epistles were written, to record a few more incidents which
I then overlooked in my note-book. Whilst painting my portraits amongst the
Sioux, as I have described, I got the portrait of a noble Shienne chief, by the
name of Nee-hee-o-eer-woo-tis, the wolf on the hill (plate 115). The chief
of a party ef tliat tribe, on a friendly visit to the Sioux, and the portrait also of
a woman, Tis-see-woo-na-tis (she who bathes her knees, plate 116). The
Shiennes are a small tribe of about 3000 in numbers, living neighbours to
the Sioux, on the west of them, and between the Black Hills and the
Rocky Mountains. There is no finer race of men than these in North
America, and none superior in stature, excepting the Osages ; scarcely a
man in the tribe, full grown, who is less than six feet in height. The
Shiennes are undoubtedly the richest in horses of any tribe on the Continent,
living in a country as they do, where the greatest herds of wild horses
are grazing on the prairies, which they catch in great numbers and vend to
the Sioux, Mandans and other tribes, as well as to the Fur Traders.

These people are the most desperate set of horsemen, and warriors also,
having carried on almost unceasing wars with the Pawnees and Biackfeet,
" time out of mind." The chief represented in the picture was clothed
in a handsome dress of deer skins, very neatly garnished with broad bands of
porcupine quill-work down the sleeves of his shirt and his leggings, and all
the way fringed with scalp-locks. His hair was very profuse, and flowing
over his shoulders ; and in his hand he held a beautiful Sioux pipe, which
had just been presented to him by Mr. M'Kenzie, the Trader. This was
one of the finest looking and most dignified men that I have met in the Indian
country ; and from the account given of him by the Traders a man of
honour and strictest integrity. The woman was comely, and beautifully
dressed ; her dress of the mountain-sheep skins, tastefully ornamented with
quills and beads, and her hair plaited in large braids, that hung down on her
breast.

After I had painted these and many more, whom T have not time at pre-
sent to name, I painted the portrait of a celebrated warrior of the Sioux,
by the name of Mah-to-chee-ga (the little bear), who was unfortunately
slain in a few moments after the picture was done, by one of his own tribe ;
and which was very near costing me my life for having painted a side view of
his face, leaving one-half of it out of the picture, which had been the cause of
the affray ; and supposed by the whole tribe to have been intentionally left
out by me, as " good for nothing." This was the last picture that I painted
amongst the Sioux, and the last, undoubtedly, that I ever shall paint in that
place. So tremendous and so alarming was the excitement about it, that
my brushes were instantly put away, and I embarked the next day on the
steamer for the sources of the Missouri, and was glad to get underweigh.

The man who slew this noble warrior was a troublesome fellow of the
same tribe, by the name of Shon-ka (the dog). A " hue and cry" has
been on his track for several months ; and my life having been repeatedly

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tlireatened during my absence up the river, I shall defer telling the whole
of this most extraordinary affair, until I see that my own scalp is safe, and
T am successfully out of the country, A few weeks or months will decide
how many are to fall victims to the vengeance of the relatives of this mur-
dered brave i and if I outlive the affair, I shall certainly give some further
account of it.*

My voyage from the mouth of the Teton River to this place has been the
most rugged, yet the most delightful, of my whole Tour. Our canoe was
generally landed at night on the point of some projecting barren sand-bar,
where we straightened our limbs on our buffalo robes, secure from the
annoyance of mosquitos, and out of the walks of Indians and grizzly bears.
In addition to the opportunity which this descending Tour has afforded me
of visiting all the tribes of Indians on the river, and leisurely filling my port-
folio with the beautiful scenery which its shores present — the sportsman's
fever was roused and satisfied ; the swan, ducks, geese, and pelicans — the
deer, antelope, elk, and buffaloes, were ^'stretched" by our rifles; and some
times — " pull boys ! pull ! ! a war party ! for your lives pull ! or we are
gone !"

I often landed my skiff, and mounted the green carpeted bluffs, whose
soft grassy tops, invited me to recline, where I was at once lost in contem-
plation. Soul melting scenery that was about me ! A place where the
mind could think volumes ; but the tongue must be silent that would speak,.
and the hand palsied that would write. A place where a Divine would con-
fess that he never had fancied Paradise — where the painter's palette would
lose its beautiful tints — the blood-stirring notes of eloquence would die in
their utterance — and even the soft tones of sweet music would scarcely pre-
serve a spark to light the soul again that had passed this sweet delirium. I
mean the prairie, whose enamelled plains that lie beneath me, in distance
soften into sweetness, like an essence ; whose thousand thousand velvet-
covered hills, (surely never formed by chance, but grouped in one of
Nature's sportive moods) — tossing and leaping down with steep or graceful
declivities to the river's edge, as if to grace its pictured shores, and make it
*' a thing to look upon." I mean the prairie at sun-set; when the green
hill-tops are turned into gold — and their long shadows of melancholy are
thrown over the valleys — when all the breathings of day are hushed, and
nought but the soft notes of the retiring dove can be heard ; or the still softer
and more plaintive notes of the wolf, who sneaks through these scenes of en-
chantment, and mournfully how — 1 s, as if lonesome, and lost in the too

beautiful quiet and stillness about him. I mean this prairie ; where Heaven
sheds its purest hght, and lends its richest tints — this round-topp'd bluff,

* Some months after writing tbe above, and after I had arrived safe in St. Louis, the
news reached there that the Dog had been overtaken and killed, and a brother of his also,
and the affair thus settled. The portraits are in Vol. II. (plates ^3, 27 4i, and 275), and
the story there told.

where the foot treads soft and light — whose steep sides, and lofty head, rear
me to the skies, overlooking yonder pictured vale of beauty — this solitary
cedar-post, vphich tells a tale of grief — grief that was keenly felt, and tenderly,
but long since softened in the march of time and lost. Oh, sad and tear-
starting contemplation ! sole tenant of this stately mound, how solitary thy
habitation ! here Heaven wrested from thee thy ambition, and made thee
sleeping monarch of this land of silence.

Stranger ! oh, how the mystic web of sympathy links my soul to thee and
thy afflictions ! I knew thee not, but it was enough ; thy tale was told, and I
a solitary wanderer through thy land, have stopped to drop familiar tears
upon thy grave. Pardon this gush from a stranger's eyes, for they are all
that thou canst have in this strange land, where friends and dear relations
are not allowed to pluck a flower, and drop a tear to freshen recollections of
endearments past.

Stranger ! adieu. With streaming eyes I leave thee again, and thy fairy
land, to peaceful solitude. My pencil has faithfully traced thy beautiful
habitation ; and long shall live in the world, and familiar, the name of
*' Floyd's Grave."

Readers, pardon this digression. I have seated myself down, not on a
prairie, but at my table, by a warm and cheering fire, with my journal before
me to cull from it a few pages, for your entertainment ; and if there are
spots of loveliness and beauty, over which I have passed, and whose images
are occasionally beckoning me into digressions, you must forgive me.

Such is the spot I have just named, and some others, on to which I am
instantly transferred when I cast my eyes back upon the enamelled and
beautiful shores of the Upper Missouri ; and I am constrained to step aside
and give ear to their breathings, when their soft images, and cherished asso-
ciations, so earnestly prompt me. " Floyd's Grave" is a name given to one
of the most lovely and imposing mounds or bluffs on the Missouri River,
about twelve hundred miles above St. Louis, from the melancholy fate of
Serjeant Floyd, who was of Lewis and Clark's expedition, in 1806; who
died on the way, and whose body was taken to this beautiful hill, and buried
in its top, where now stands a cedar post, bearing the initials of his name
(plate 118).

I landed my canoe in front of this grass-covered mound, and all hands
being fatigued, we encamped a couple of days at its base. I several
times ascended it and sat upon his grave, overgrown with grass and the
most delicate wild flowers, where I sat and contemplated the solitude
and stillness of this tenanted mound ; and beheld from its top, the
windings infinite of the Missouri, and its thousand hills and domes of green,
vanishing into blue in distance, when nought but the soft-breathing winds
were heard, to break the stillness and quietude of the scene. Where not the
chirping of bird or sound of cricket, nor soaring eagle's scream, were inter-
posed 'tween God and man ; nor aught to check man's whole surrender of

79

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his soul to his Creator. I could not hunt upon this ground, but I roamed
from hill-top to hill-top, and culled wild flowers, and looked into the valley
below me, both up the river and down, and contemplated the thousand hills
and dales that are now carpeted with green, streaked as they will be, with
the plough, and yellow with the harvest sheaf ; spotted with lowing kine —
with houses and fences, and groups of hamlets and villas — and these lovely
hill-tops ringing with the giddy din and maze, or secret earnest whispers of
lovesick swains — of pristine simplicity and virtue— -wholesome and well-
earned contentment and abundance — and again, of wealth and refinements
— of idleness and luxury — of vice and its deformities — of fire and sword, and
the vengeance of offended Heaven, wreaked in retributive destruction ! —
and peace, and quiet, and loveliness, and silence, dwelling again, over and
through these scenes, and blending them into futurity !

Many such scenes there are, and thousands, on the Missouri shores. My
canoe has been stopped, and I have clambered up their grassy and flower-
decked sides ; and sighed all alone, as I have carefully traced and fastened
them in colours on my canvass.

This voyage in my little canoe, amid the thousand islands and grass-
covered bluffs that stud the shores of this mighty river, afforded me infinite
pleasure, mingled with pains and privations which I never shall wish to for-
get. Gliding along from day to day, and tiring our eyes on the varying
landscapes that were continually opening to our view, my merry voyageurs
were continually chaunting their cheerful boat songs, and " every now and
then," taking up their unerring rifles to bring down the stately elks or ante-
lopes, which were often gazing at us from the shores of the river.

But a few miles from " Floyd's Bluff" we landed our canoe, and spent
a day in the vicinity of the " Black Bird's Grave." This is a celebrated
point on the Missouri, and a sort of telegraphic place, which all the travellers
in these realms, both white and red, are in the habit of visiting : the one to
pay respect to the bones of one of their distinguished leaders ; and the others,
to indulge their eyes on the lovely landscape that spreads out to an almost
illimitable extent in every direction about it. This elevated bluff, which may
be distinguished for several leagues in distance (plate 117), has received

e name of the " Black Bird's Grave," from the fact, that a famous chief
of the 0-ma-haws, by the name of the Black Bird, was buried on its top, at
his own peculiar request ; over whose grave a cedar post was erected by his
tribe some thirty years ago, which is still standing. The O -ma-haw village
was about sixty miles above this place ; and this very noted chief, who had
been on a visit to Washington City, in company with the Indian agent, died
of the small-pox, near this spot, on his return home. And, whilst dying,
enjoined on his warriors who were about him, this singular request, which
was literally complied with. He requested them to take his body down the
river to this his favourite haunt, and on the pinnacle of this towering bluff,
to bury him on the back of his favourite war-horse, which was to be buried

6

alive, under him, from whence he could see, as he said, " the Frenchmen
passing up and down the river in their boats." He owned, amongst many
horses, a noble white steed that was led to the top of the grass-covered hill ;
and, with great pomp and ceremony, in presence of the whole nation, and
several of the Fur Traders and the Indian agent, he was placed astride of
his horse's back, with his bow in his hand, and his shield and quiver slung —
with his pipe and his medicine-bag — with his supply of dried meat, and his
tobacco-pouch replenished to last him through his journey to the " beautiful
hunting grounds of the shades of his fathers" — with his flint and steel, and
his tinder, to light his pipes by the way. The scalps that he had taken from
his enemies' heads, could be trophies for nobody else, and were hung to the
bridle of his horse — he was in full dress and fully equipped ; and on his
head waved, to the last moment, his beautiful head-dress of the war-eagle's
plumes. In this plight, and the last funeral honours having been performed
by the medicine-men, every warrior of his band painted the palm and fingers
of his right hand with vermilion ; which was stamped, and perfectly im-
pressed on the milk-white sides of his devoted horse.

This all done, turfs were brought and placed around the feet and legs of
the horse, and gradually laid up to its sides ; and at last, over the back and
head of the unsuspecting animal, and last of all, over the head and even the
eagle plumes of its valiant rider, where altogether have smouldered and
remained undisturbed to the present day.

This mound which is covered with a green turf, and spotted with wild
flowers, with its cedar post in its centre, can easily be seen at the distance of fif-
teen miles, h-^^hevoyageur, and forms for him a familiar and useful land-mark.

Whilst visiting this mound in company with Major Sanford, on our way
up the river, I discovered in a hole made in the mound, by a " ground hog"
or other animal, the skull of the horse ; and by a little pains, also came at
the skull of the chief, which I carried to the river side, and secreted till my
return in my canoe, when I took it in, and brought with me to this place,
where I now have it, with others which I have collected on my route.

There have been some very surprising tales told of this man, which will
render him famous in history, whether they be truth or matters of fiction. Of
the many, one of the most current is, that he gained his celebrity and
authority by the most diabolical series of murders in his own tribe ; by
administering arsenic (with which he had been supplied by the Fur Traders)
to such of his enemies as he wished to get rid of — and even to others in his
tribe whom he was willing to sacrifice, merely to establish his superhuman
powers, and the most servile dread of the tribe, from the certainty with which
his victims fell around him, precisely at the times he saw fit to predict their
death ! It has been said tliat he administered this potent drug, and to them
unknown medicine, to many of his friends as well as to foes; and by such
an inhuman and unparalleled depravity, succeeded in exercising the most
despotic and absolute authority ia his tribe, until the time of his death I

This story may bo true, and it may not. I cannot contradict it ; and 1 am
sure the world will forgive me, if I say, I cannot believe it. If it be true,
two things are also true ; the one, not much to the credit of the Indiaa
character ; and the other, to the everlasting infamy of the Fur Traders. If
it be true, it furnishes an instance of Indian depravity that I never have else-
where heard of in my travels ; and carries the most conclusive proof of the
incredible enormity of white men's dealings in this country; who, for some
sinister purpose must have introduced the poisonous drug into the country,
and taught the poor chief how to use it ; whilst they were silent accessories
to the murders he was committing. This story is said to have been told by
the Fur Traders ; and although I have not always the highest confidence in
their justice to the Indian, yet, I cannot for the honour of my own species,
believe them to be so depraved and so wicked, nor so weak, as to reveal such
iniquities of this chief, if they were true, which must directly implicate them-
selves as accessories to his most wilful and unprovoked murders.

Such he has been heralded, however, to future ages, as a murderer — like
hundreds and thousands of others, as *' horse thieves" — as " drunkards" —
as " rogues of the first order," &c. &c. — by the historian who catches but a
glaring story, (and perhaps fabrication) of their lives, and has no time nor
disposition to enquire into and record their long and brilliant list of virtues,
which must be lost in the shade of infamy, for want of an historian.

I have learned much of this noble chieftain, and at a proper time shall
recount the modes of his civil and military life- — how he exposed his life, and
shed his blood in rescuing the victims to horrid torture, and abolished that
savage custom in his tribe — how he led on and headed his brave warriors,
against the Sacs and Foxes ; and saved the butchery of his women and
children — how he received the Indian agent, and entertained him in his
hospitable v.'igwam, in his village — and how he conducted and acquitted
himself on his embassy to the civilized world.

So much I will take pains to say, of a man whom I never saw, because
other historians have taken equal pains just to mention his name, and a soli-
tary (and doubtful) act of his life, as they have said of hundreds of others,
for the purpose of consigning him to infamy.

How much more kind would it have been for the historian, who never saw
liim, to have enumerated with this, other characteristic actions of his life
(for the verdict of the world) ; or to have allowed, in charity, his bones and
his name to have slept in silence, instead of calling them up from the grave,
to thrust a dagger through them, and throw them back again.

Book -making now-a-days, is done for money-making ; and he who takes
the Indian for his theme, and cannot go and see him, finds a poverty in his
matter that naturally begets error, by grasping at every little tale that is
brought or fabricated by their enemies. Such books are standards, because
they are made for white man's reading only ; and herald the character of a
per pie who never can disprove them. They answer the purpose for which

8

they are written ; and the poor Indian who has no redress, stands stigmatized
and branded, as a murderous wretch and beast.

If the system of book-making and newspaper printing were in operation
in the Indian country awhile, to herald the iniquities and horrible barbarities
of white men in these Western regions, which now are sure to be overlooked ;
I venture to say, that chapters would soon be printed, which would sicken the
reader to his heart, and set up the Indian, a fair and tolerable man.

There is no more beautiful prairie country in the world , than that which is
to be seen in this vicinity. In looking back from this bluff, towards the
West, there is, to an almost boundless extent, one of the most beautiful
scenes imaginable. The surface of the country is gracefully and slightly
undulating, like the swells of the retiring ocean after a heavy storm. And
everywhere covered with a beautiful green turf, and with occasional patches
and clusters of trees. The soil in this region is also rich, and capable of
making one of the most beautiful and productive countries in the world.

Ba'tiste and Bogard used their rifles to some effect during the day that
we loitered here, and gathered great quantities of delicious grapes. From
this lovely spot we embarked the next morning, and glided through con-
stantly changing scenes of beauty, until we landed our canoe at the base of
a beautiful series of grass-covered bluffs, which, like thousands and thousands
of others on the banks of this river, are designated by no name, that I know
of; and I therefore introduce them as fair specimens of ike grassy bluff's
of the Missouri.

My canoe was landed at noon, at the base of these picturesque hills — and
there rested till the next morning. As soon as we were ashore, I scrambled
to their summits, and beheld, even to a line, what the reader has before
him in plates 119 and 120. I took my easel, and canvass and brushes,
to the top of the bluff, and painted the two views from the same spot ; the
one looking up, and the other down the river. The reader, by imagining
these hills to be five or six hundred feet high, and every foot of them, as
far as they can be discovered in distance, covered with a vivid green turf,
whilst the sun is gilding one side, and throwing a cool shadow on the other,
will be enabled to form something like an adequate idea of the shores of
the Missouri. From this enchanting spot there was nothing to arrest the
eye from ranging over its waters for the distance of twenty or thirty miles,
where it quietly glides between its barriers, formed of thousands of green
and gracefully sloping hills, with its rich and alluvial meadows, and wood-
lands— and its hundred islands, covered wirh stately cotton-wood.

In these two views, the reader has a fair account of the general character
of the Upper Missouri ; and by turning back to plate 39, Vol. I., which
I have already described, he will at once see the process by which this
wonderful formation has been produced. In that plate will be seen the
manner in which the rains are wearing down the clay-bluffs, cutting gullies
or sluices behind them, and leaving them at last to stand out in relief, in

6'l?

-^^S^:-^

119

V;;r^,^r>^:

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120

9

these rounded and graceful forms, until in time they get seeded over, and
nourish a growth of green grass on their sides, which forms a turf, and pro-
tects their surface, preserving them for centuries, in the forms that are here
seen. The tops of the highest of these bluffs rise nearly up to the summit
level of the prairies, which is found as soon as one travels a mile or so from
the river, amongst these picturesque groups, and comes out at their top ;
from whence the country goes off to the East and the West, with an almost
perfectly level surface.

These two views were taken about thirty miles above the village of the
Puncahs, and five miles above " the Tower ;" the name given by the travel-
lers through the country, to a high and remarkable clay bluff, rising to the
height of some hundreds of feet from the water, and having in distance, the
castellated appearance of a fortification.

My canoe was not unmoored from the shores of this lovely spot for two
days, except for the purpose of crossing the river; which I several times did,
to ascend and examine the hills on the opposite side. I had Ba'tiste and
Bogard with me on the tops of these green carpeted bluffs, and tried in vain
to make them see the beauty of scenes that were about us. They dropped
asleep, and I strolled and contemplated alone ; clambering "w^ one hill" and
sliding or Tunnmg"down another," -with no other living being in sight, save now
and then a bristling wolf, which, from my approach, was reluctantly retreating
from his shady lair — or sneaking behind me and smelling on my track.

Whilst strolling about on the western bank of the river at this place, I
found the ancient site of an Indian village, which, from the character of the
marks, I am sure was once the residence of the Mandans. I said in a
former Letter, when speaking of the Mandans, that within the recollection of
some of their oldest men, they lived some sixty or eighty miles down the river
from the place of their present residence ; and that they then lived in nine
Tillages. On my way down, I became fully convinced of the fact ; having
landed my canoe, and examined the ground where the foundation of every
wigwam can yet be distinctly seen. At that time, they must have been
much more numerous than at present, from the many marks they have left,
as well as from their own representations.

The Mandans have a peculiar way of building their wigwams, by digging
down a couple of feet in the earth, and there fixing the ends of the poles
which form the walls of their houses. There are other marks, such as their
caches — and also their mode of depositing their dead on scaffolds — and
of preserving the skulls in circles on the prairies ; which peculiar customs I
have before described, and most of which are distinctly to be recognized in
each of these places, as well as in several similar remains which I have met
with on the banks of the river, between here and the Mandans ; which fully
convince me, that they have formerly occupied the lower parts of the Missouri,
and have gradually made their way quite through the heart of the great
Sioux country ; and having been well fortified in all their locations, as in

VOL. II. c

10

their present one, by a regular stockade and ditch ; they have been able
successfully to resist the continual assaults of the Sioux, that numerous
tribe, who have been, and still are, endeavouring to effect their entire de-
struction. 1 have examined, at least fifteen or twenty of their ancient
locations on the banks of this river, and can easily discover the regular
differences in the ages of these antiquities ; and around them all I have
found numerous bits of their broken pottery, corresponding with that which
they are now manufacturing in great abundance ; and which is certainly
made by no other tribe in these regions. These evidences, and others which
I shall not take the time to mention in this place, go a great way in my
mind towards strengthening the possibility of their having moved from the
Ohio river, and of their being a remnant of the followers of Madoc. I have
much further to trace them yet, however, and shall certainly have more to
say on so interesting a subject in future.

Almost every mile I have advanced on the banks of this river, I have met
evidences and marks of Indians in some form or other ; and they have
generally been those of the Sioux, who occupy and own the greater part of
this immense region of country. In the latter part of my voyage, however,
and of which I have been speaking in the former part of this Letter, I met
the ancient sites of the 0-ma-ha and Ot-to towns, which are easily detected
when they are met. In plate 121 (letter a), is seen the usual mode of the
Omahas, of depositing their dead in the crotches and on the branches of
trees, enveloped in bkins, and never without a wooden dish hanging by the
head of the corpse ; probably for the purpose of enabling it to dip up water
to quench its thirst on the long and tedious journey, which they generally
expect to enter on after death. These corpses are so frequent along the
banks of the river, that in some places a dozen or more of them may be
seen at one view.

Letter b in the same plate, shews the customs of the Sioux, which are
found in endless numbers on the river ; and in fact, through every part of
this country. The wigwams of these people are only moveable tents, and
leave but a temporary mark to be discovered. Their burials, however, are
peculiar and lasting remains, which can be long detected. They often de-
posit their dead on trees, and on scaffolds ; but more generally bury in the
tops of bluffs, or near their villages ; when they often split out staves and
drive in the ground around the grave, to protect it from the trespass of dogs
or wild animals.

Letter c (same plate), shews the character of Mandan remains, that are
met with in numerous places on the river. Their mode of resting their
dead upon scaffolds is not so peculiar to them as positively to distinguish
them from Sioux, who sometimes bury in the same way ; but the excava-
tions for their earth-covered wigwams, which I have said are two feet deep
in the ground, with the ends of the decayed timbers remaining in them, are
peculiar and conclusive evidence of their being of Mandan construction ;

81

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<^TiSL^^ £^dlfei.4_

121

G ■ Caljjjn, .

II

and the custom of leaving the skulls bleached upon the ground in circles (as
I have formerly described in plate 48, Vol. I.), instead of burying them as
the other tribes do, forms also a strong evidence of the fact that they are
Maudan remains.

In most of these sites of their ancient towns, however, I have been unable
to find about their burial places, these characteristic deposits of the skulls ;
from which I conclude, that whenever they deliberately moved to a different
region, they buried the skulls out of respect to the dead. I found, just back
of one of these sites of iheir ancient towns, however, and at least 500 miles
below where they now live, the same arrangement of skulls as that I
described in plate 48. They had laid so long, however, exposed to the
weather, that they were reduced almost to a powder, except the teeth,
which mostly seemed polished and sound as ever. It seems that no human
hands had dared to meddle with the dead ; and that even their enemies
had respected them ; for every one, and there were at least two hundred in
one circle, had mouldered to chalk, in its exact relative position, as they
had been placed in a circle. In this case, I am of opinion that the village
was besieged by the Sioux, and entirely destroyed ; or that the Mandans
were driven off without the power to stop and bury the bones of their dead.
Belle Vue (plate 122) is a lovely scene on the West bank of the river,
about nine miles above the mouth of the Platte, and is the agency of Major
Dougherty, one of the oldest and most effective agents on our frontiers.
This spot is, as I said^ lovely in itself; but doubly so to the eye of the
weather-beaten voyageur from the sources of the Missouri, who steers his
canoe in, to the shore, as I did, and soon finds himself a welcome guest at
the comfortable board of the Major, with a table again to eat from — and
that (not " groaning," but) standing under the comfortable weight of meat
and vegetable luxuries, products of the labour of cultivating man. It was a
pleasure to see again, in this great wilderness, a civilized habitation ; and
still more pleasant to find it surrounded with corn-fields, and potatoes, with
numerous fruit-trees, bending under the weight of their fruit — with pigs and
poultry, and kine ; and what was best of all, to see the kind and benevolent
face, that never looked anything but welcome to the half-starved guests,
who throw themselves upon him from the North, from the South, the East,
or the West.

At this place 1 was in the country of the Pawnees, a numerous tribe,
whose villages are on the Platte river, and of whom I shall say more anon.
Major Dougherty has been for many years the agent for this hostile tribe ;
and by his familiar knowledge of the Indian character, and his strict honesty
and integrity, he has been able to effect a friendly intercourse with them,
and also to attract the applause and highest confidence of the world, as well
as of the authorities who sent him there.

An hundred miles above this, I passed a curious feature, called tl e
"Square Hills" (plate 123). I landed my canoe, and went ashore, and

12

to their tops, to examine them. Though they appeared to be near the river,
I found it half a day's journey to travel to and from them ; they being
several miles frora the river. On ascending them I found them to be two or
three hundred feet high, and rising on their sides at an angle of 45 degrees;
and on their tops, in some places, for half a mile in length, perfectly level,
■with a green turf, and corresponding exactly vpith the tabular hills spoken
of above the Mandans, in plate 39, Vol. I. I therein said, that I should
visit these hills on my way down the river ; and I am fully convinced, from
close examination, that they are a part of the same original superstratum,
which I therein described, though seven or eight hundred miles separated
from them. They agree exactly in character, and also in the materials of
which they are composed ; and I believe, that some unaccountable gorge
of waters has swept away the intervening earth, leaving these solitary and
isolated, though incontrovertible evidences, that the summit level of all this
great valley has at one time been where the level surface of these hills now
is, two or three hundred feet above what is now generally denominated the
summit level.

The mouth of the Platte (plate 124), is a beautiful scene, and no doubt
will be the site of a large and flourishing town, soon after Indian titles shall
have been extinguished to the lands in these regions, which will be done
within a very few years. The Platte is a long and powerful stream, pouring
in from the Rocky Mountains and joining with the Missouri at this place.

In this voyage, as in all others that I have performed, I kept my journal,
but I have not room, it will be seen, to insert more than an occasional extract
from it for my present purpose. In this voyage, Ba'tiste and Bogard were
my constant companions ; and we all had our rifles, and used them often.
We often went ashore amongst the herds of buffaloes, and were obliged to
do so for our daily food. We lived the whole way on buffaloes' flesh and
venison — we had no bread ; but laid in a good stock of coffee and sugar.
These, however, from an unforeseen accident availed us but little ; as on
the second or third day of our voyage, after we had taken our coffee on the
slioie, and Ba'tiste and Bogard had gone in pursuit of a herd of buffaloes,
I took it in my head to have an extra very fine dish of coffee to myself, as
the fire was fine. For this purpose, I added more coffee-grounds to the pot,
and placed it on the fire, which I sat watching, when I saw a fine buffalo cow
wending her way leisurely over the hills, but a little distance from me, for
whom I started at once, with my rifle trailed in my hand ; and after creep-
ing, and running, and heading, and all that, for half an hour, without get-
ting a shot at her ; I came back to the encampment, where I found my
two men with meat enough, but in the most uncontroulable rage, for my
coffee had all boiled out, and the coffee-pot was melted to pieces !

This was truly a deplorable accident, and one that could in no effectual way
be remedied. We afterwards botched up a mess or two of it in our frying-pan,
but to httle purpose, and then abandoned it to Bogard alone, who thank •

82

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13

fully received the dry coffee-grounds and 8ue;ar, at his meals, which he soon
entirely demolished.

We met immense numbers of buffaloes in the early part of our voyage
and used to land our canoe almost every hour in the day ; and oftentimes
all together approach the unsuspecting herds, through some deep and hidden
ravine within a few rods of them, and at the word, " pull trigger," each
of us bring down our victim (plate 125).

In one instance, near the mouth of White River, we met the most immense
herd crossing the Missouri River — and from an imprudence got our boat into
imm inent danger amongst them, from which we were highly delighted to
make our escape. It was in the midst of the " running season," and we
had heard the '* roaring" (as it is called) of the herd, when we were several
miles from them. When we came in sight, we were actually terrified at the
immense numbers that were streaming down the green hills on one side of
the river, and galloping up and over the bluffs on the other. The river was
filled, and in parts blackened, with their heads and horns, as they were
swimming about, following up their objects, and making desperate battle
whilst they were swimming,

I deemed it imprudent for our canoe to be dodging amongst them, and ran
it ashore for a few hours, where we laid, waiting for the opportunity of seeing
the river clear ; but we waited in vain. Their numbers, however, got some-
what diminished at last, and we pushed off, and successfully made our way
amongst them. From the immense numbers that had passed the river at
that place, they had torn down the prairie bank of fifteen feet in height, so
as to form a sort of road or landing-place, where they all in succession
clambered up. Many in their turmoil had been wafted below this landing,
and unable to regain it against the swiftness of the current, had fastened
themselves along in crowds, hugging close to the high bank under which
they were standing. As we were drifting by these, and supposing ourselves
out of danger, I drew up my rifle and shot one of them in the head, which
tumbled into the water, and brought with him a hundred others, which
plunged in, and in a moment were swimming about our canoe, and placing it
m great danger (plate 126). No attack was made upon us, and in the
confusion the poor beasts knew not, perhaps, the enemy that was amongst
them ; but we were liable to be sunk by them, as they were furiously hooking
and climbing on to each other. I rose in my canoe, and by my gestures
and hallooing, kept them from coming in contact with us, until we were out
of their reach.

This was one of the instances that I formerly spoke of, where thousands
and tens of thousands of these animals congregate in the running season, and
move about from East and West, or wherever accident or circumstances may
lead them. In this grand crusade, no one can know the numbers that may
havt made the ford within a few days ; nor in their blinded fury in such
scenes, would feeble man be much respected.

14

During the remainder of that day we paddled onward, and passed many
of their carcasess floating on the current, or lodged on the heads of islands
and sand-bars. And, in the vicinity of, and not far below the grand tur-
moil, we passed several that were mired in the quicksand near the shores ;
some were standing fast and half immersed ; whilst others were nearly out
of sight, and gasping for the last breath ; others were standing with all legs
fast, and one half of their bodies above the water, and their heads sunk
under it, where they had evidently remained several days ; and flocks of
ravens and crows were covering their backs, and picking the flesh from theii
dead bodies.

So much of the Upper Missouri and its modes, at present ; though I have
much more in store for some future occasion.

Fort Leavenworth, which is on the Lower Missouri, being below the mouth
of the Platte, is the nucleus of another neighbourhood of Indians, amongst
whom I am to commence my labours, and of whom I shall soon be enabled
to give some account. So, for the present, Adieu,

83

125

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126

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15

LETTER— No. 33.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWER MISSOURI.

I MENTIONED in a former epistle, that this is the extreme outpost on tlie
Western Frontier, and built, like several others, in the heart of the Indidii
country. There is no finer tract of lands in North America, or, perhaps, in
the world, than that vast space of prairie country, vyhich lies in the vicinity
of this post, embracing it on all sides. This garrison, like many others on
the frontiers, is avowedly placed here for the purpose of protecting our fron-
tier inhabitants from the incursions of Indians ; and also for the purpose of
preserving the peace amongst the different hostile tribes, who seem con-
tinually to wage, and glory in, their deadly wars. How far these feeble
garrisons, which are generally but half manned, have been, or will be, able
to intimidate and controul the warlike ardour of these restless and revenge-
ful spirits ; or how far they will be able in desperate necessity, to protect
the lives and property of the honest pioneer, is yet to be tested.

They have doubtless been designed with the best views, to effect the most
humane objects, though 1 very much doubt the benefits that are anticipated
to flow from them, unless a more efficient number of men are stationed in
them than I have generally found ; enough to promise protection to the
Indian, and then to ensure it ; instead of promising, and leaving them to
seek it in their own way at last, and when they are least prepared to do it.

When I speak of this post as being on the Lower Missouri, I do not
wish to convey the idea that I am down near the sea-coast, at the mouth of
the river, or near it ; I only mean that I am on the lower part of the Mis-
souri, yet 600 miles above its junction with the Mississippi, and near 2000
from the Gulf of Mexico, into which the Mississippi discharges its waters.

In this delightful Cantonment there are generally stationed six or seven
companies of infantry, and ten or fifteen officers ; several of whom have
their wives and daughters with them, forming a very pleasant little commu-
nity, who are almost continually together in social enjoyment of the peculiar
amusements and pleasures of this wild country. Of these pastimes they
have many, such as riding on horseback or m carriages over the beautiful
green fields of the prairies, picking strawberries and wild plums— deer
chasing — grouse shooting — horse-racing, and other amusements of the gar-
rison, in which they are almost constantly engaged ; enjoying life to a very
nigh degree.

16

In these delightful amusements, and with these pleasing companions, I
have been for a while participating with great satisfaction ; I have joined
several times in the deer-hunts, and more frequently in grouse shooting,
which constitutes the principal amusement of this place

This delicious bird, which is found in great abundance in nearly all the
North American prairies, and most generally called the Prairie Hen, is,
from what I can learn, very much like the English grouse, or heath hen,
both in size, in colour, and in habits. They make their appearance in
these parts in the months of August and September, from the higher lati-
tudes, where they go in the early part of the summer, to raise their broods.
This is the season for the best sport amongst them ; and the whole garrison,
in fact are almost subsisted on them at this time, owing to the facility
with which they are killed.

1 was lucky enough the other day, with one of the officers of the garrison,
to gain the enviable distinction of having brought in together seventy- five
of these fine birds, which we killed in one afternoon ; and although I am '
quite ashamed to confess the manner in which we killed the greater pa t of
them, I am not so professed a sportsman as to induce me to conceal the
fact. We had a fine pointer, and had legitimately followed the sportsman's
style for a part of the afternoon ; but seeing the prairies on fire several miles
ahead of us, and the wind driving the fire gradually towards us, we found
these poor birds driven before its long fine, which seemed to extend from
horizon to horizon, and they were flying in swarms or flocks that would at
times almost fill the air. They generally flew half a mile or so, and lit down
again in the grass, where they would sit until the fire was close upon them,
and then they would rise again. We observed by watching their motions,
that they lit in great numbers in every solitary tree ; and we placed our-
selves near each of these trees in turn, and shot them down as they settled
in them ; sometimes killing five or six at a shot, by getting a range upon
them.

In this way we retreated for miles before the flames, in the midst of the
flocks, and keeping company with them where they were carried aloao- in
advance of the fire, in accumulating numbers ; many of which had been
driven along for many miles. We murdered the poor birds in this way,
until we had as many as we could well carry, and laid our course bac k to
the Fort, where we got much credit for our great shooting, and where we
were mutually pledged to keep the secret.

The prairies burning form some of the most beautiful scenes that are to
be witnessed in this country, and also some of the most sublime. Every
acre of these vast prairies (being covered for hundreds and hundreds of
miles, with a crop of grass, which dies and dries in the fall) burns over
during the fall or early in the spring, leaving the ground of a black and
doleful colour.

There are many modes by which the fire is communicated to them, both '

17

by white men and by Indians — par accident ; and yet many more where it
is voluntarily done for the purpose of getting a fresh crop of grass, for the
grazing of their horses, and also for easier travelling during the next sum-
mer, when there will be no old grass to lie upon the prairies, entanglino-
the feet of man and horse, as they are passing over them.

Over the elevated lands and prairie bluffs, where the grass is thin and
short, the fire slowly creeps with a feeble flame, which one can easily step
over (plate 127) ; where the wild animals often rest in their lairs until the
flames almost burn their noses, when they will reluctantly rise, and leap
over it, and trot off amongst the cinders, where the fire has past and left the
ground as black as jet. These scenes at night become indescribably beau-
tiful, when their flames are seen at many miles distance, creeping over the sides
and tops of the bluffs, appearing to be sparkling and brilliant chains of
liquid fire (the hills being lost to the view), hanging suspended in graceful
festoons from the skies.

But there is yet another character of burning prairies (plate 128), that

requires another Letter, and a different pen to describe — the war, or hell of

fires ! where the grass is seven or eight feet high, as is often the case for many

miles together, on the Missouri bottoms ; and the flames are driven forward

by the hurricanes, which often sweep over the vast prairies of this denuded

country. There are many of these meadows on the Missouri, the Platte,

and the Arkansas, of many miles in breadth, which are perfectly level, with

a waving grass, so high, that we are obliged to stand erect in our stirrups,

in order to look over its waving tops, as we are riding through it. The fire

in these, before such a wind, travels at an immense and frightful rate,

and often destroys, on their fleetest horses, parties of Indians, who are

so unlucky as to be overtaken by it ; not that it travels as fast as a horse

at full speed, but that the high grass is filled with wild pea-vines and other

impediments, which render it necessary for the rider to guide his horse in

the zig-zag paths of the deers and buffaloes, retarding his progress, until he

is overtaken by the dense column of smoke that is swept before the fire —

alarming the horse, which stops and stands terrified and immutable, till the

burning grass which is wafted in the wind, falls about him, kindling up in a

moment a thousand new fires, which are instantly wrapped in the swelling

flood of smoke that is moving on like a black thunder-cloud, rolling on the

earth, with its lightning's glare, and its thunder rumbling as it goes. *
• » » * * * *

When Ba'tiste, and Bogard, and I, and Patrick Raymond (who like Bogard
had been a free trapper in the Rocky Mountains), and Pah-me-o-ne-qua
(the red thunder), our guide back from a neighbouring village, were jogging
along on the summit of an elevated bluff, overlooking an immense valley

of high grass, through which we were about to lay our course. * *

*******

♦ Well, then, you say you have seen the prairies on fire ?" Yes. '* You

ffOL. II. »

18

have seen the fire on the mountains, and beheld it feebly creeping over ih
grassy hills of the North, where the toad and the timid snail were pacing
from its approach — all this you have seen, and who has not ? But who has
seen the vivid lightnings, and heard the roaring thunder of the rolling con-
flagration which sweeps over the deep-clad prairies of the West ? Who has
dashed, on his wild horse, through an ocean of grass, with the raging tem-
pest at his back, rolling over the land its swelling waves of liquid fire?"
What ! " Aye, even so. Ask the red savage of the wilds what is awful and
sublime — Ask him where the Great Spirit has mixed up all the elements o
death, and if he does not blow them over the land in a storm of fire ? Ask
him what foe he has met, that regarded not his frightening yells, or his sinewy
bow ? Ask these lords of the land, who vauntingly challenge the thunder
and lightning of Heaven — whether there is not one foe that travels over their
land, too swift for their feet, and too mighty for their strength — at whose
approach their stout hearts sicken, and their strong-armed courage withers
to nothing? Ask him again (if he is sullen, and his eyes set in their sockets)

— ' Hush ! sh ! sh !' — (he will tell you, with a soul too proud

to confess — his head sunk on his breast, and his hand over his mouth) —
' that's TOedzcme/' *****

I said to my comrades, as we were about to descend from the towering
bluffs into the prairie — '* We will take that buffalo trail, where the travelling
herds have slashed down the high grass, and making for that blue point,
rising, as you can just discern, above this ocean of grass ; a good day's work
will bring us over this vast meadow before sunset." We entered the trail,
and slowly progressed on our way, being obliged to follow the winding paths
of the buffaloes, for the grass was higher than the backs of our horses.
Soon after we entered, my Indian guide dismounted slowly from his horse,
and lying prostrate on the ground, with his face in the dirt, he cried, and
was talking to the Spirits of the brave — " For," said he, " over this beautiful
plain dwells the Spirit of fire ! he rides in yonder cloud — his face blackens
with rage at the sound of the trampling hoofs — \)neJire-bow is in his hand —
he draws it across the path of the Indian, and quicker than lightning, a
thousand flames rise to destroy him ; such is the talk of my fathers, and
the ground is whitened with their bones. It was here," said he, " that the
brave son of Wah-chee-ton, and the strong-armed warriors of his band, just
twelve moons since, licked the fire from the blazing wand of that great
magician. Their pointed spears were drawn upon the backs of the trea-
cherous Sioux, whose swifter-flying horses led them, in vain, to the midst of
this valley of death. A circular cloud sprang up from the prairie around
them ! it was raised, and their doom was fixed by the Spirit of fire ! It was
on this vast plain of fire-grass that waves ovei our heads, that the swift
foot of Mah-to-ga was laid. It is here, also, that the fleet-bounding wild
hursG mingles his bones with the red man ; and the eagle's wing is melted

s^

■'■•V.m>„^^^■:4^;,Vl)^\^V;I\,^,H.lW{\!<(%<i

k\

128

.=#--

'-^-., i^,-^:i;^-3^ ^ ' r- - ■ - ^::r:r=:^^^-^^3«^jic^

^1-4' '■■■-■■•" v„ ■

^^. . icJl

:;->v -i^

— — '-■ '^--~li;^'.c:.V\~.

'-' H\^ilHlW>U'/

12 7

C^. CoLtUn.

iJ

as he darts Over its surface. Friends ! it is the season of fire ; and 1 fear
from the smell of the wind, that the Spirit is awake ! "

Pah-ine-o-ne-qua said no more, but mounted his wild horse, and waving
his hand, his red shoulders were seen rapidly vanishing as he glided through
the thick mazes of waving grass. We were on his trail, and busily traced
him until the midday-sun had brought us to the ground, with our refresh-
ments spread before us. He partook of them not, but stood like a statue,
while his black eyes, in sullen silence, swept the horizon round ; and then.
with a deep-drawn sigh, he gracefully sunk to the earth, and laid with his
face to the ground. Our buflfalo tojigues and peraican, and marrow-fat,
were spread before us ; and we were in the full enjoyment of these dainties
of the Western world, when, quicker than the frightened elk, our Indian
friend sprang upon his feet ! His eyes skimmed again slowly ove-r the
prairies' surface, and he laid himself as before on the ground.

" Red Thunder seems sullen to-day," said Bogard — " he startles at
every rush of the wind, and scowls at the whole world that is about him."

" There's a rare chap for you — a fellow who would shake his fist at
Heaven, when he is at home ; and here, in a grass-patch, must make liis
/ire-medicine for a circumstance that he could easily leave at a shake of
his horse's heels."

" Not sae sure o' that, my hooney, though we'll not be making too lightly
of the matter, nor either be frightened at the mon's strange octions. But,
Bogard, I'll tell ye in a 'ord (and thot's enough), there's something more
than odds in all this ' medicine.' If this mon's a fool, he was born out of
his own country, that's all — and if the divil iver gits him, he must take him
cowld, for he is too swift and too wide-awake to be taken alive — you under-
stond thot, I suppouse ? But, to come to the plain matter — supposin that
the Fire Spirit (and I go for somewhat of witchcraft), I say supposin that
this Fire Spirit should jist impty his pipe on tother side of this prairie, and
strike up a bit of a blaze in this high grass, and send it packing across in
this direction, before sich a death of a wind as this is ! By the bull barley,
I'll bet you'd be after ' making medicine,' and taking a bit of it, too, to get
rid of the racket."

" Yes, but you see, Patrick "

" Neever mind thot (not wishin to distarb you) ; and suppouse the bio win
wind was coming fast ahead, jist blowin about our ears a warld of smoke
and chokin us to dith, and we were dancin about a Varginny reel among
these little paths, where the divil would we be by the time we got to that bluff,
for it's now fool of a distance? Givin you time to spake, I would say a word
more (askin your pardon), I know by the expression of your face, mon, you
neever have seen the world on fire yet, and therefore you know nothin at all
of a hurly burly of this kind— did ye ?— did ye iver see (and I jist want to
know), did ye iver see the fire in high-grass, runnin with a strong wind,
about five mile and the half, and thin hear it strike into a slash of dry cane

20

brake ! ! I would jist ax you that ? By thuneder you niver have — for your
eyes would jist stick out of your head at the thought of it ! Did ye iver
look way into the backside of Mr. Maelzel's Moscow, and see the flashin
flames a runnin up.; and then hear the poppin of the militia Jire jist after-
wards ? then you have jist a touch of it ! ye're jist beginnin — ye may talk
about fires — but this is sich a baste of a Jire! Ask Jack Sanford, he's a
chop that can tall you all aboot it. Not wishin to distarb you, I would say
a word more — and that is this — If I were advisin, I would say that we are
gettin too far into this imbustible meadow ; for the grass is dry, and the
wind is too strong to make a light matter of, at this sason of the year ;
an now I'll jist tell ye how M'Kenzie and I were sarved iu this very place
about two years ago ; and he's a worldly chop, and niver aslape, my word
for that hollo, what's that!"

Red Thunder was on his feet ! — his long arm was stretched over the
grass, and his blazing eye-balls starting from their sockets ! " White man
(said he), see ye that small cloud lifting itself from the prairie? he rises !
ihe hoofs of our horses have waked him ! The Fire Spirit is awake — this
wind is from his nostrils, and his face is this way ! " No more — but his
swift horse darted under him, and he gracefully slid over the waving grass
as it was bent by the wind. Our viands were left, and we were swift on his
trail. The extraordinary leaps of his wild horse, occasionally raised his red
shoulders to view, and he sank again in the waving billows of grass. The
tremulous wind was hurrying by us fast, and on it was borne the agitated
wing of the soaring eagle. His neck was stretched for the towering bluff,
and the thrilling screams of his voice told the secret that was behind him.
Our horses were swift, and we struggled hard, yet hope was feeble, for the
bluff was yet blue, and nature nearly exhausted ! The sunshine was dying,
and a cool shadow advancing over the plain. Not daring to look back,
we strained every nerve. The roar of a distant cataract seemed gradually
advancing on us — the winds increased, the howling tempest was madden-
ing behind us — and the swift-winged beetle and heath hens, instinctively
drew their straight lines over our heads. The fleet-bounding antelope
passed us also ; and the still swifter long-legged hare, who leaves but a
shadow as he flies ! Here was no time for thought — but I recollect the
heavens were overcast — the distant thunder was heard — the lightning's glare
was reddening the scene — and the smell that came on the winds struck
terror to my soul ! * ♦ * • The piercing yell

of my savage guide at this moment came back upon the winds — his robe
was seen waving in the air, and his foaming horse leaping up the towerin->-
bluff.

Our breath and our sinews, in this last struggle for life, were just enough
to bring us to its summit. We had risen from a sea of fire I "Great God !
(I exclaimed) how sublime to gaze into that valley, where the elements of
nature are so strangely convulsed ! " Ask not the poet of painter how it

21

looked, for they can tell you not ; but ask the naked savage, and watch the
electric twinge of his manly nerves and muscles, as he pronounces the

lengthened '' hush sh '' his hand on his mouth, an<i his glaring

eye-balls looking you to the very soul !

I beheld beneath me an immense cloud of black smoke, which extended
from one extremity of this vast plain to the other, and seemed majestically
to roll over its surface in a bed of liquid fire ; and above this mij,hty deso-
lation, as it rolled along, the whitened smoke, pale with terror, was stream-
ing and rising up in magnificent cliffs to heaven !

I stood secure, but tremblingly, and heard the maddening wind, which
hurled this monster o'er the land — I heard the roaring thunder, and 'saw iis
thousand lightnings flash ; and then I saw behind, the black and smoking
desolation of this storm oijire I

22

LETTER No. 34.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, LOWER MISSOURI.

Since writing the last epistle, some considerable time has elapsed, which has,
nevertheless, been filled upand used to advantage, as Ihavebeen moving about
and using my brush amongst different tribes in this vicinity. The Indians that
maybe said to belong to this vicinity, and who constantly visit this post, are the
loways — Konzas — Pawnees — Omahas — Ottoes, and Missouries (primitive),
and Delawares — Kickapoos — Potawatomies — Weahs — Peorias — Shawanos,
Kaskaskias (semi-civilized remnants of tribes that have been removed to
this neighbourhood by the Government, within the few years past). These
latter-named tribes are, to a considerable degree, agriculturalists ; getting
their living principally by ploughing, and raising corn, and cattle and horses.
They have been left on the frontier, surrounded by civilized neighbours,
where they have at length been induced to sell out their lands, or exchange
them for a much larger tract of wild lands in these regions, which the
Government has purchased from the wilder tribes.

Of the first named, the loways may be said to be the farthest departed
from primitive modes, as they are depending chiefly on their corn-fields for
subsistence ; though their appearance, both in their dwellings and personal
looks, dress, modes, &c., is that of the primitive Indian.

The loways are a small tribe, of about fourteen hundred persons, living in
a snug little village within a few miles of the eastern bank of the Missouri
River, a few miles above this place.

The present chief of this tribe is Notch-ee-ning-a (the white cloud, plate
129), the son of a very distinguished chief of the same name, who died re-
cently, after gaining the love of his tribe, and the respect of all the civilized
world who knew him. If my time and space will admit it, and I should not
forget it, I shall take another occasion to detail some of the famous trans-
actions of his signal life.

The son of White Cloud, who is now chief, and whose portrait I have just
named, was tastefully dressed with a buffalo robe, wrapped around him, with
a necklace of grizzly bear's claws on his neck ; with shield, bow, and
quiver on, and a profusion of wampum strings on his neck.

Wy-ee-yogh (the man of sense, plate 130), is another of this tribe, much
istinguished for his bravery and early warlike achievements. His head was
dressed with a broad silver band passing around it, and decked out with the
trest of horsehair.

S5

129

130

G. CtMm.

131

132

23

Pah-ta-coo~che (the shooting cedar, plate 131), and Was-com-mun
(the busy man, plate 132), are also distinguished warriors of ihe tribe;
tastefully dressed and equipped, the one with his war-club on his arm, the
other with bow and arrows in his hand ; both wore around their waists
beautiful buffalo robes, and both had turbans made of vari-coloured cotton
shawls, purchased of the Fur Traders, Around their necks were necklaces
of the bears' claws, and a profusion of beads and wampum. Their ears were
profusely strung with beads ; and their naked shoulders curiously streaked
and daubed with red paint.

Others of this tribe will be found amongst the paintings in my Indian
Museum ; and more of them and their customs given at a future time.

The Konzas, of 1560 souls, reside at the distance of sixty or eighty miles
from this place, on the Konzas River, fifty miles above its union with the
Missouri, from the West.

Tills tribe has undoubtedly sprung from the Osages, as their personal
appearance, language and traditions clearly prove. They are living adjoin-
ing to the Osages at this time, and although a kindred people, have same-
times deadly warfare with them. The present chief of this tribe is known
by the name of the " White Plume;" a very urbane and hospitable man, of
good portly size, speaking some English, and making himself good company
for all white persons who travel through his country and have the good
luck to shake his liberal and hospitable hand.

It has been to me a source of much regret, that I did not get the portrait
of this celebrated chief; but I have painted several others distinguished in
the tribe, which are fair specimens of these people. Sho-me-cos-se (the
wolf, PLATE 1 33), a chief of some distinction, with a bold and manly outline
of head ; exhibiting, like most of this tribe, an European outline of features,
signally worthy the notice of the enquiring world. The head of this chief
was most curiously ornamented, and his neck bore a profusion of wampum
strings.

Meach-o-shin-gaw (the little white bear, plate 134). Chesh-oo-hong-ha
(the man of good sense, plate 135), and Wa-hon-ga-shee (no fool, plat£
136), are portraits of distinguished Konzas, and all furnish striking instances
of the bold and Roman outline that I have just spoken of.

The custom of shaving the head, and ornamenting it with the crest of
deer's hair, belongs to this tribe ; and also to the Osages, the Pawnees,
the Sacs, and Foxes, and loways, and to no other tribe that I know of;
unless it be in some few instances, where individuals have introduced it into
their tribes, merely by way of imitation.

With these tribes, the custom is one uniformly adhered to by every man
in the nation ; excepting some few instances along the frontier, where efforts
are made to imitate white men, by allowing the hair to grow out.

In plate 135, is a fair exhibition of this very curious custom — the hair
being cut as close to the head as possible, except a tuft the size of the palm

24

of the hand, on the crown of the head, which is left of two inches in length :
and in the centre of which is fastened a beautiful crest made of the hair of
the deer's tail (dyed red) and horsehair, and oftentimes surmounted with
tlie war-eagle's quill. In the centre of the patch of hair, which I said was
left of a couple of inches in length, is preserved a small lock, which is never
cut, but cultivated to the greatest length possible, and uniformly kept
in braid, and passed through a piece of curiously carved bone ; which lies in
the centre of the crest, and spreads it out to its uniform shape, which they
study with great care to preserve. Through this little braid, and outside of
the bone, passes a small wooden or bone key, which holds the crest to the
head. This little braid is called in these tribes, the " scalp-lock," and is
scrupulously preserved in this way, and offered to their enemy if they can
get it, as a trophy ; which it seems in all tribes they are anxious to yield to
their conquerors, in case they are killed in battle ; and which it would be
considered cowardly and disgraceful for a warrior to shave off, leaving
nothing for his enemy to grasp for, when he falls into his hands in the events
of battle.

Amongst those tribes who thus shave and ornament their heads, the crest
is uniformly blood-red ; and the upper part of the head, and generally a con-
siderable part of the face, as red as they can possibly make it with vermilion.
1 found these people cutting off the hair with small scissors, which they pur-
chase of the Fur Traders ; and they told me that previous to getting scissors,
they cut it away with their knives ; and before they got knives, they were in
the habit of burning it off with red hot stones, which was a very slow
and painful operation.

With the exception of these few, all the other tribes in North America
cultivate the hair to the greatest length they possibly can ; preserving it to
flow over their shoulders and backs in great profusion, and quite unwilling
to spare the smallest lock of it for any consideration.

The Pawnees are a very powerful and warlike nation, living on the river
Platte, about one hundred miles from its junction with the Missouri ; laying
claim to, and exercising sway over, the whole country, from its mouth to the
base of the Rocky Mountains.

The present number of this tribe is ten or twelve thousand; about one
half the number they had in 1832, when that most appalling disease, tiie
small-pox, was accidentally introduced amongst them by the Fur Traders,
and whiskey sellers ; when ten thousand (or more) of them perished in the
course of a few months.

The Omahas, of fifteen hundred ; the Ottoes of six hundred ; and Mis-
souries of four hundred, who are now living under the protection and
surveillance of the Pawnees, and in the immediate vicinity of them, were all
powerful tribes, but so reduced by this frightful disease, and at the same
time, that they were unable longer to stand against so formidable enemies as
they had around them, in the Sioux, Pawnees, Sacs, and Foxes, and at last

86

13 3

134^

"^ V" ,-' -''■,

135

136

G Gamn.

last meiged into the Pawnee tribe, under whose wing and protection they
now live.

The period of this awful calamity in these regions, was one that will be
long felt, and long preserved in the traditions of these people. The great
tribe of the Sioux, of whom I have heretofore spoken, suffered severely with
the same disease ; as well as the Osages and Konzas ; and particularly tlie
unfortunate Puncahs, who were almost extinguished by it.

The destructive ravages of this most fatal disease amongst these poor
people, who know of no specific for it, is beyond the knowledge, and almost
beyond the belief, of the civilized world. Terror and dismay are carried with
it ; and awful despair, in the midst of which they plunge into the river,
when in the highest state of fever, and die in a moment; or dash themselves
from precipices ; or plunge their knives to their hearts, to rid themselves
from the pangs of slow and disgusting death.

Amongst the formidable tribe of Pawnees, the Fur Traders are yet doing
some business ; but, from what I can learn, the Indians are dealing with
some considerable distrust, with a people who introduced so fatal a calamity
amongst them, to which one half of their tribe have fallen victims. The
Traders made their richest harvest amongst these people, before this disease
broke out ; and since it subsided, quite a number of their lives have paid
the forfeit, according to the Indian laws of retribution.*

The Pawnees have ever been looked upon, as a very warlike and hostile
tribe ; and unusually so, since the calamity which I have mentioned.

Major Dougherty, of whom I have heretofore spoken, has been for several

* Since the abore was written, I have had the very great pleasure of reading the notes
of the Honourable Charles A. Murray, (who was for several months a guest amongst the
Pawnees), and also of being several times a fellow-traveller with him in America ; and at
last a debtor to him for his signal kindness and friendship in London. Mr, Murray's
account of the Pawnees, as far as he saw them, is without doubt drawn with great fidelity,
and he makes them out a pretty bad set of fellows. As I have before menrioned, there
is probably not another tribe on the Continent, that has been more abused and incensed
by the system of trade, and money-making, than the Pawnees ; and the Honourable
Mr. Murray, with his companion, made his way boldly into the heart of their country,
without guide or interpreter, and I consider at great hazard to his life : and, from all the
circumstances, I have been ready to congratulate him on getting: out of their country as
well as he did.

I mentioned in a former page, the awful destruction of this tribe by the small-pox ; a
few years previous to which, some one of the Fur Traders visited a threat upon these
people, that if they did not comply with some condition, " he would let the small-pox out
of a bottle and destroy the whole of them." The pestilence has since been introduced
accidentally amongst them by the Traders ; and the standing tradition of the tribe now is,
that " the Traders opened a bottle and let it out to destroy them." Under such cir-
cumstances, from amongst a people who have been impoverished by the system of trade,
without any body to protect him, I cannot but congratulate my Honourable friend for
his peaceable retreat, where others before him have been less fortunate ; and regret
at the same time, that he could not have been my companion to some others of the
remote tribes.

VOL. It K

26

years their agent ; and by his unremitted endeavours, with an unequalled
familiarity with the Indian character, and unyielding integrity of purpose,
has successfully restored and established, a system of good feeling and
respect between them and the " pale faces," upon whom they looked,
naturally and experimentally, as their destructive enemies.

Of this stern and uncompromising friend of the red man, and of justice,
who has taken them close to his heart, and familiarized himself with their
faults and their griefs, I take great pleasure in recording here for the perusal
of the world, the following extract from one of his true and independent
Reports, to the Secretary at War ; which sheds honour on his name, and
deserves a more public place than the mere official archives of a Government
record.

" In comparing this Report with those of the years preceding, you will
find there has been little improvement on the part of the Indians, either in
literary acquirements or in agricultural knowledge.

*' It is my decided opinion, that, so long as the Fur Traders and trappers
are permitted to reside among the Indians, all the efforts of the Government
to better their condition will be fruitless ; or, in a great measure checked by
the strong influence of those men over the various tribes.

" Every exertion of the agents, (and other persons, intended to carry into
effect the views of the Government, and humane societies,) are in such
direct opposition to the Trader and his interest, that the agent finds himself
continually contending with, and placed in direct and immediate contrariety
of interest to the Fur Traders or grossly neglecting his duty by overlooking
acts of impropriety ; and it is a curious and melancboly fact, that while the
General Government is using every means and expense to promote the
advancement of those aboriginal people, it is at the same time suffering the
Traders to oppose and defeat the very objects of its intentions. So long as
the Traders and trappers are permitted in the Indian country, the introduc-
tion of spirituous liquors will be inevitable, under any penalty the law may
require ; and until its prohibition is certain and effectual, every effort of
Government, through the most faithful and indefatigable agents, will be use-
less. It would be, in my humble opinion, better to give up every thing to
the Traders, and let them have the sole and entire control of the Indians,
than permit them to contend at every point, with the views of the Govern-
ment ; and that contention made manifest, even to the most ignorant Indian.

" While the agent is advising the Indians to give up the chase and settle
themselves, with a view to agricultural pursuits, the Traders are urging them
on in search of skins.

" Far be it from me to be influenced or guided by improper or personal
feeling, in the execution of my duty ; but, Sir, I submit my opinion to a
candid world, in relation to the subject, and feel fully convinced you will be
able to see at once the course which will ever place the Indian Trader, and
the present policy of Government, in relation to the Indians, at eternal war.

fo

27

** The missionaries sent amongst the several tribes are, no doubt, sincere
in their intentions. I beheve them to be so, from what I have seen ; but,
unfortunately, they commence their labours where they should end them.
They should teach the Indians to work, by establishing schools of that
description among them ; induce them to live at home, abandon their rest
less and unsettled life, and live independent of the chase. After they are
taught this, their intellectual faculties would be more susceptible of improve-
ment of a moral and religious nature ; and their steps towards civilization
would become less difficult."

The Pawnees are divided into four bands, or families — designated by the
names of Grand Pawnees — Tappage Pawnees — Republican Pawnees, and
Wolf Pawnees.

Each of these bands has a chief at its head ; which chiefs, with all the
nation, acknowledge a superior chief at whose voice they all move.

At the head of the Grand Pawnees, is Shon-ka-ki-he-ga (the horse chief,
PLATE 138) ; and by the side of him, Haw-che-ke-sug-ga (he who kills the
Osages, PLATE 139), the aged chief of the Missouries, of whom I have spoken,
and sliall yet say more.

La-doo-ke-a (the buffalo bull, plate 140), with his medicine or totem
(the head of a buffalo) painted on his breast and his face, with bow and
arrows in his hands, is a warrior of great distinction in the same band.

Le-shaw-loo-lah-le-hoo (the big elk, plate 141), chief of the Wolf Paw-
nees, is another of the most distinguished of this tribe

In addition to the above, I have also painted of this tribe, for my Museum,
Ah-shaw-wah-rooks-te (the medicine horse) ; La-kee-too-wi-ra-sha (the little
chief) ; Loo-ra-we-re-coo (the bird that goes to war) ; Ah-sha-la-coots-a (mole
in the forehead) ; La-shaw-le-staw-hix (the man chief) ; Te-ah-ke-ra-le-re-
coo (the Chayenne) ; Lo-loch-to-hoo-la (the big chief) ; La-wah-ee-coots-la-
shaw-no (the brave chief) ; and L'har-e-tar-rushe (the ill-natured man).

The Pawnees live in four villages, some few miles apart, on the banks of
the Platte river, having their allies the Omahas and Ottoes so near to them as
easily to act in concert, in case of invasion from any other tribe ; and from
the fact that half or more of them are supplied with guns and ammunition,
they are able to withstand the assaults of any tribe that may come upon them.

Of the Ottoes, No-toay-ke-sug-ga (he who strikes two at once, plate 143) ;
and Raw-no-way-woh-krah (the loose pipe-stem, plate 144), I have painted
at full length, in beautiful costumes — the first with a necklace of grizzly
bear's claws, and his dress profusely fringed with scalp-locks ; the second,
in a tunic made of the entire skin of a grizzly bear, with a head-dress of
the war-eagle's quills.

Besides these, I painted, also, Wah-ro-nee-sah (the surrounder) ; Non-
je-ning-a (no heart) ; and We-ke-ru-law (he who exchanges).

Of the Omahas, Ki-ho-ga-waw-shu-shee (the brave chief, plate 145), is
the head chief; and next to him in standing and reputation, is Om-pa-ton-gu

28

(the big elk, plate 146), with his tomahawk in his hand, and his face
painted black, for war.

Besides these, I painted Man-sha-qui-ta (the little Soldier), a brave ;
Shaw-da-mon-nee (there he goes) ; and Nom-ha-mon-nee (tlie double walker).

Of these wild tribes I have much more in store to say in future, and shall
certainly make another budget of Letters from this place, or from other
regions from whence I may wish to write, and possibly, lack material ! All
of these tribes, as well as the numerous semi-civilized remnants of tribes, that
have been thrown out from the borders of our settlements, have missionary
establishments and schools, as well as agricultural efforts amongst them ;
and will furnish valuable evidence as to the success that those philanthropic
and benevolent exertions have met with, contending (as thay have had to do)
with the contaminating influences of whiskey-sellers, and other mercenary
men, catering for their purses and their unholy appetites.

^47

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9.J

LETTER— No. 35.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

My little bark has been soaked in the water again, and Ba'tiste and
Bogard have paddled, and I have steered and dodged our little craft amongst
the snags and sawyers, until at last we landed the humble little thing
amongst the huge steamers and floating palaces at the wharf of this bustling
and growing city.

And first of all, I must relate the fate of my little boat, which had borne
us safe over two thousand miles of the Missouri's turbid and boiling current,
with no fault, excepting two or three instances, when the waves became
too saucy, she, like the best of boats of her size, went to the bottom, and left
us soused, to paddle our way to the shore, and drag out our things and dry
them in the sun.

When we landed at the wharf, my luggage was all taken out, and removed
to my hotel ; and when I returned a few hours afterwards, to look for my
little boat, to which I had contracted a peculiar attachment (although I had
left it in special charge of a person at work on the wharf) ; some mystery or
medicine operation had relieved me from any further anxiety or trouble
about it — it had gone and never returned, although it had safely passed the
countries of mysteries, and had often laid weeks and months at the villages
of red men, with no laws to guard it ; and where it had also often been
taken out of the water by mystery-men, and carried up the bank, and turned
against my wigwam ; and by them again safely carried to the river's edge,
and put afloat upon the water, when I was ready to take a seat in it.

St. Louis, which is 1400 miles west of New York, is a flourishing town,
of 15,000 inhabitants, and destined to be the great emporium of the West—
the greatest inland town in America. Its location is on the Western bank
of the Mississippi river, twenty miles below the mouth of the Missouri, and
1400 above the entrance of the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the great depot of all the Fur Trading Companies to the Upper
Missouri and Rocky Mountains, and their starting-place ; and also for the
Santa Fe, and other Trading Companies, who reach the Mexican borders
overland, to trade for silver bullion, from the extensive mines of that rich
country.

I navB also made it my starting-point, and place of deposit, to which I

30

send from different quarters, my packages of paintings and Indian articles
minerals, fossils, &c., as I collect them in various regions, here to be stored
till my return ; and where on my last return, if I ever make it, I shall
hustle them altogether, and remove them to the East.

To this place I had transmitted by steamer and other conveyance, about
twenty boxes and packages at different times, as my note-book shewed ;
and I have, on looking them up and enumerating them, been lucky enough
to recover and recognize about fifteen of the twenty, which is a pretty fair
proportion for this wild and desperate country, and the very conscieniious
hands they often are doomed to pass through.

Ba'tiste and Bogard (poor fellows) I found, after remaining here a few
days^ had been about as unceremoniously snatched off, as my little canoe ;
and liogard, in particular, as he had made show of a few hundred dollars,
which he had saved of his hard earnings in the Rocky Mountains.

He came down with a liberal heart, which he had learned in an Indian
life of ten years, with a strong taste, which he had acquired, for whiskey,
in a country where it was sold for twenty dollars per gallon ; and with an
independent feeling, which illy harmonized with rules and regulations of a
country of laws ; and the consequence soon was, that by the " Hawk and
Buzzard" system, and Rocky Mountain liberality, and Rocky Mountain
prodigality, the poor fellow was soon "jugged up;" where he could deli-
berately dream of beavers, and the free and cooling breezes of the mountain
air, without the pleasure of setting his trap for the one, or even indulging
the hope of ever again having the pleasure of breathing the other.

I had imbibed rather less of these delightful passions in the Indian coun-
try, and consequently indulged less in them when I came back ; and of
course, was rather more fortunate than poor Bogard, whose feelings I
soothed as far as it laid in my power, and prepared to " lay my course"
to the South, with colours and canvass in readiness for another campaign.

In my sojourn in St. Louis, amongst many other kind and congenial
friends whom I met, 1 have had daily interviews with the venerable Gover-
nor Clark, whose whitened locks are still shaken in roars of laughter, and
good jests among the numerous citizens, who all love him, and continually
rally around him in his hospitable mansion.

Governor Clark, with Captain Lewis, were the first explorers across the
Rocky Mountains, and down the Colombia to the Pacific Ocean thirty-two
years ago ; whose tour has been published in a very interesting work, which
has long been before the world. My works and my design have been
warmly approved and applauded by this excellent patriarch of the Western
World ; and kindly recommended by him in such ways as have been of
great service to me. Governor Clark is now Superintendant of Indian
Affairs for all the Western and North Western regions ; and surely, their
interests could never have been intrusted to better or abler hands.*

* Some year or two after writing the above, I saw the aunouncement of the death of this

31

So long have I been recruiting, and enjoying the society of friends in this
town, that the navigation of the river has suddenly closed, being entirely
frozen over ; and the earth's surface covered with eighteen inches of drifting
snow, which has driven me to the only means, and I start in a day or two,
with a tough little pony and a packhorse, to trudge through the snow drifts
from this to New Madrid, and perhaps further ; a distance of three or four
hundred miles to the South — ^where I must venture to meet a warmer
climate — the river open, and steamers running, to waft me to the Gulf of
Mexico. Of the fate or success that waits me, or of the incidents of that
travel, as they have not transpired, I can as yet say nothing ; and I close
my book for further time and future entries.

veteran, whose life has been one of faithful service to his country, and, at the same time,
of strictest fideb'ty as the guardian and friend of the red men.

32

LETTER— No. 36.

PENSACOLA, WEST FLORIDA.

From my long silence of late, you will no doubt have deemed me out of
the civil and perhaps out of the whole world.

I have, to be sure, been a great deal of the time out of the limits of one
and, at times, nearly out of the other. Yet I am living, and hold in my
possession a number of epistles which passing events had dictated, but which
I neglected to transmit at the proper season. In my headlong transit
through the Southern tribes of Indians, I have "popped out" of the woods
upon this glowing land, and I cannot forego the pleasure of letting you into
a few of the secrets of this delightful place,

" Flos — -fioris" &c. every body knows the meaning of; and Florida, in
Spanish, is a country of flowers. — Perdido is perdition, and Rio Perdido,
River of Perdition. Looking down its perpendicular banks into its black
water, its depth would seem to be endless, and the doom of the unwary to
be gloomy in the extreme. Step not accidentally or wilfully over its fatal
brink, and Nature's opposite extreme is spread about you. You are literally
in the land of the " cypress and myrtle" — where the ever-green live oak and
lofty magnolia dress the forest in a perpetual mantle of green.

The sudden transition from the ice-bound regions of the North to this
mild climate, in the midst of winter, is one of peculiar pleasure. At a half-
way of the distance, one's cloak is thrown aside ; and arrived on the ever-
verdant borders of Florida, the bosom is opened and bared to the soft breeze
from the ocean's wave, and the congenial warmth of a summer's sun.

Such is the face of Nature here in the rude month of February ; green
peas are served on the table — other garden vegetables in great perfection,
and garden flowers, as well as wild, giving their full and sweetest perfume to
the winds.

I looked into the deep and bottomless Perdido, and beheld about it the
thousand charms which Nature has spread to allure the unwary traveller to its
brink. 'Twas not enough to entangle him in a web of sweets upon its bor-
ders, but Nature seems to have used an art to draw him to its bottom, by the
voluptuous buds which blossom under its black waters, and whose vivid
colours are softened and enriched the deeper they are seen below its surface
The sweetest of wild flowers enamel the shores and spangle the dark green

33

tapestry which tiangs over its bosom — the stately magnolia towers fear-
lessly over its black waters, and sheds (with the myrtle and jessamine) the
richest perfume over this chilling pool of death.

How exquisitely pure and sweet are the delicate tendrils which Nature
has hung over these scenes of melancholy and gloom ! and how strong,
also, has she fixed in man's breast the passion to possess and enjoy them !
I could have hung by the tree tops over that fatal stream, or blindly
staggered over its thorny brink to have culled the sweets which are found
only in its bosom ; but the poisonous fang, I was told, was continually
aimed at my heel, and I left the sweetened atmosphere of its dark and
gloomy, yet enamelled shores.

Florida is, in a great degree, a dark and sterile wilderness, yet with spots
of beauty and of loveliness, with charms that cannot be forgotten. Her
swamps and everglades, the dens of alligators, and lurking places of the
desperate savage, gloom the thouglits of the wary traveller, whose mind is
cheered and lit to admiration, when in the solitary pine woods, where he
hears nought but the echoing notes of the sand-hill cranes, or the howling
wolf, he suddenly breaks out into the open savannahs, teeming with their
myriads of wild flowers, and palmettos (plate 147) ; or where the winding
path through which he is wending his lonely way, suddenly brings hinn
out upon the beach, where the rolling sea has thrown up her thousands of bills
and mounds of sand as white as the drifted snow, over which her green waves
are lashing, and sliding back again to her deep green and agitated bosom
(plate 148). This sketch was made on Santa Rosa Island, within a few
miles of Pensacola, of a favourite spot for tea (and other convivial) parties,
which are often held there. The hills of sand are as purely lohite as snow, and
fifty or sixty feet in height, and supporting on their tops, and in their sides,
clusters of magnolia bushes — of myrtle — of palmetto and heather, all of
which are evergreens, forming the most vivid contrast with the snow-white
sand in which they are growing. On the beach a family of Seminole Indians
are encamped, catching and drying red fish, their chief article of food.

I have traversed the snow-white shores of Pensacola's beautiful bay,
and 1 said to myself, " Is it possible that Nature has done so much in
vain — or will the wisdom of man lead him to add to such works the em-
bellishments of art, and thus convert to his own use and enjoyment the
greatest luxuries of life ?" As a travelling stranger through the place, I
said " yes : it must be so." Nature has here formed the finest harbour
in the world ; and the dashing waves of the ocean have thrown around
its shores the purest barriers of sand, as white as the drifted snow. Unlike
all other Southern ports, it is surrounded by living fountains of the purest
water, and its shores continually fanned by the refreshing breathings of tlie
sea. To a Northern man, the winters in this place appear like a continuai!
spring time ; and the intensity of a summer's sun is cooled into comfort and
luxury by the ever-cheering sea breeze.

VOL. II. F

34

This is the only place I have found in the Southern country to wliich
Northern people can repair with safety in the summer season ; and I
know not of a place in the world where they can go with better guarantees
of o-ood health, and a reasonable share of the luxuries of life. The town of
Pensacola is beautifully situated on the shore of the bay, and contains at
present about fifteen hundred inhabitants, most of them Spanish Creoles.
They live an easy and idle life, without any energy further than for the mere
means of living. The bay abounds in the greatest variety of fish, which
are easily taken, and the finest quality of oysters are found in profusion,
even alongside of the wharves.

Government having fixed upon this harbour as the great naval dep6t for
all the Southern coast, the consequence will be, that a vast sum of public
money will always be put into circulation in this place ; and the officers of
the navy, together with the officers of the army, stationed in the three forts
built and now building at this place, will constitute the most polished and
desirable society in our country.

What Pensacola has been or is, in a commercial point of view, little can
be said ; but what it can be, and most certainly will be, in a few years, the
most sanguine can hardly predict. I would unhesitatingly recommend this
to the enterprising capitalists of the North, as a place where they can
live, and where (if nature has been kind, as experience has taught us)
they will flourish. A few such men have taken their stand here within a
few months past ; and, as a first step towards their aggrandizement, a plan
of a rail-road has been projected, from Pensacola to Columbus, in Georgia ;
which needs only to be completed, to place Pensacola at once before any
other town on the Southern coast, excepting New Orleans. Of the feasi-
bility of such a work, there is not the slightest doubt; and, from the opinions
advanced by Captain Chase and Lieutenant Bowman, two of the most dis-
tinguished engineers of the army, it would seem as if Nature had formed a
level nearly the whole way, and supplied the best kind of timber on the spot
for its erection. The route of this rail-road would be through or near the
principal cotton-growing part of Alabama, and the quantity of produce from
that state, as well as from a great part of the state of Georgia, which would
seek this market, would be almost incalculable. Had this road been in ope-
ration during the past winter, it has been ascertained by a simple calculation,
that the cotton -growers of Alabama, might have saved 2,000,000 of dollars
on their crop ; by being enabled to have got it early into market, and received
the first price of 18| cents, instead of waiting fix weeks or two months for
a rise of water, enabling them to get it to Mobile — at which time it had
fallen to nine cents per pound.

As a work also of national utility, it would rank amongst the moat
important in our country, and the Government might afford to appropriate
the wholft sum necessary for its construction. In a period of war, when
in all probability, for a great part of the time, this port may be in

92

^>^i^^i-_-

-^^ix-

G Caiiun,

14^8

So

state of blockade, such a communication with the interior of the country,
would be of incalculable benefit for the transportation of men— of produce
and munitions of war.

Of the few remnants of Indians remaining in this part of the country,
I have little to say, at present, that could interest you. The sum total
that can be learned or seen of them (like all others that are half civilized)
is, that they are to be pitied.

The direful " trump of war" is blowing in East Florida, where I was
** steering my course ;" and I shall in a few days turn my steps in a
different direction.

Since you last heard from me, I have added on to my former Tour " down
the river," the remainder of the Mississippi (or rather Missouri), from
St. Louis to New Orleans ; and I find that, from its source to the Balize,
the distance is 4500 miles only! I shall be on the wing again in a few days,
for a shake of the hand with the Camanchees, Osages, Pawnees, Kioways,
Arapahoes, &c. — some hints of whom I shall certainly give you from their
different localities, provided I can keep the hair on my head.

This Tour will lead me up the Arkansas to its source, and into the Rocky
Mountains, under the protection of the United States dragoons. You will
begin to think ere long, that I shall acquaint myself pretty well with the
manners and customs of our country — at least with the out-land-ish part
of it.

I shall hail the day with pleasure, when I can again reach the free land of
the lawless savage ; for far more agreeable to my ear is the Indiaa yeii and
war-whoop, than the civilized groans and murmurs about " pressure," " de-
Tposites" " banks " " boundary questions," &c. ; and I vanish from the
country with the sincere hope that these tedious words may become obsolete
before I return. Adieu.

3G

letter-No. 37.

FORT GIBSON, ARKANSAS TERRITORY.

Since the date of ray last Letter at Pensacola, in Florida, I travelled to
New Orleans, and from thence up the Mississippi several hundred miles, to
the mouth of the Arkansas; and up the Arkansas, 700 miles to this place.
We wended our way up, between the pictured shores of this beautiful river,
on the steamer " Arkansas," until within 200 miles of this post; when we
cot aground, and the water falling fast, left the steamer nearly on dry ground.
Hunting and fishing, and whist, and sleeping, and eating, were our principal
amusements to deceive away the time, whilst we were waiting for the water
to rise. Lieutenant Seaton, of the army, was one of my companions in
misery, whilst we lay two weeks or more without prospect of further progress
— the poor fellow on his way to his post to join his regiment, had left his
trunk, unfortunately, with all his clothes in it ; and by hunting and fishing
in shirts that I loaned him, or from other causes, we became yoked in
amusements, in catering for our table — in getting fish and wild fowl ; and,
after that, as the " last kick" for amusement and pastime, with another good
companion by the name of Chadwick, we clambered up and over the rugged
mountains' sides, from day to day, turning stones to catch centipedes and
tarantulas, of which poisonous reptiles we caged a number ; and on the boat
amused ourselves by betting on their battles, which were immediately fought,
and life almost instantly taken, when they came together.*

In this, and fifty other ways, we whiled away the heavy time ; but yet, at
last we reached our destined goal, and here we are at present fixed. Fort
Gibson is the extreme south-western outpost on the United States frontier ;
beautifully situated on the banks of the river, in the midst of an extensive
and lovely prairie ; and is at present occupied by the 7th regiment of United
States infantry, heretofore under the command of General Arbuckle, one of
the oldest officers on the frontier, and the original builder of the post.

Being soon to leave this little civilized world for a campaign in the Indian
country, I take this opportunity to bequeath a few words before the moment
of departure. Having sometime since obtained permission from the Secre-

* Several years after writing the above, I was shocked at the announcement of the
death of this amiable and honourable young man. Lieutenant Seaton, who fell a victim to
the deadly disease of that country ; severing another of the many fibres of my heart,
which peculiar cusumstances in these wild regions, had woven, but to be broken.

37

tary of War to accompany the regiment of the United States dragoons in their
summer campaign, I reported myself at this place two months ago, where I
have been waiting ever since for their organization. — After the many difficul-
ties which they have had to encounter, they have at length all assembled — the
grassy plains are resounding with the trampling hoofs of the prancing war-
horse — and already the hills are echoing back the notes of the spirit-stirring
trumpets, which are sounding for the onset. The natives are again "to be
astonished," and I shall probably again be a witness to the scene. But
whether the approach of eight hundred mounted dragoons amongst the
Camanchees and Pawnees, will afford me a better subject for a picture of a
gaping and astounded multitude, than did the first approach of our steam-
boat amongst the Mandans, &c., is a question yet to be solved. I am strongly
inclined to think that the scene will not be less wild and spirited, and I
ardently wish it ; for I have become so much Indian of late, that my pencil
has lost all appetite for subjects that savour of tameness. I should delight
in seeing these red knights of the lance astonished, for it is then that they
shew their brightest hues — and I care not how badly we frighten them, pro-
vided we hurt them not, nor frighten them out of sketching distance. You
will agree with me, that 1 am going farther to get sitters, than any of my
fellow-artists ever did ; but I take an indescribable pleasure in roaming
through Nature's trackless wilds, and selecting my models, where I am free
and unshackled by the killing restraints of society ; where a painter must
modestly sit and breathe away in agony the edge and soul of his inspiration,
waiting for the sluggish calls of the civil. Though the toil, the privations,
and expense of travelling to these remote parts of the world to get subjects
for my pencil, place almost insurmountable, and sometimes painful obstacles
before me, yet I am encouraged by the continual conviction that I am
practising in the true School of the Arts ; and that, though I should get as
poor as Lazarus, I should deem myself rich in models and studies for the
future occupation of my life. Of this much I am certain — that amongst
these sons of the forest, where are continually repeated the feats and gambols
equal to the Grecian Games, I have learned more of the essential parts of
my art in the three last years, than I could have learned in New York in a
life-time.

The landscape scenes of these wild and beautiful regions, are, of them-
selves, a rich reward for the traveller who can place them in his portfolio :
and being myself the only one accompanying the dragoons for scientific
purposes, there will be an additional pleasure to be derived from those pur-
suits. The regiment of eight hundred men, with whom I am to travel, will
be an effective force, and a perfect protection against any attacks that will
ever be made by Indians. It is composed principally of young men of
respectable families, who would act, on all occasions, from feelings of pride
and honour, in addition to those of the common soldier.

Tlie day before yesterday the regiment of dragoons aad the 7th regiment

38

of infantry, stationed here, were reviewed by General Leavenworth, who has
lately arrived at this post, superseding Colonel Arbuckle in the command.

Both regiments were drawn up in battle array, m fatigue dress, and pass-
ing through a number of the manosuvres of battle, of charge and repulse, &c.,
presenting a novel and thrilling scene in the prairie, to the thousands of Indians
and others who had assembled to witness the display. The proud and manly
deportment of these young men remind one forcibly of a regiment of Inde-
pendent Volunteers, and the horses have a most beautiful appearance from
the arrangement of colours. Each company of horses has been selected of
one colour entire. There is a company of bays, a company of blacks^ one
of whites, one of sorrels, one of greys, one of cream colour, &c. &c., which
render the companies distinct, and the effect exceedingly pleasing. This
regiment goes out under the command of Colonel Dodge, and from his well
tested qualifications, and from the beautiful equipment of the command,
there can be little doubt but that they will do credit to themselves and
an honour to their country ; so far as honours can be gained and laurels can
be plucked from their wild stems in a savage country. The object of this
summer's campaign seems to be to cultivate an acquaintance with the Paw-
nees and Camanchees. These are two extensive tribes of roaming Indians,
who, from their extreme ignorance of us, have not yet recognized the United
States in treaty, and have struck frequent blows on our frontiers and
plundered our traders who are traversing their country. For this I cannot
so much blame them, for the Spaniards are gradually advancing upon them
on one side, and the Americans on the other, and fast destroying the furs
and game of their country, which God gave them as their only wealth and
means of subsistence. This movement of the dragoons seems to be one of
the most humane in its views, and I heartily hope that it may prove so
in the event, as well for our own sakes as for that of the Indian. I can see
no reason why we should march upon them with an invading army carrying
with it the spirit of chastisement. The object of Government undoubtedly is
to effect a friendly meeting with them, that they may see and respect us, and
to establish something like a system of mutual rights with them. To penetrate
their country with the other view, that of chastising them, even with five
times the number that are now going, would be entirely futile, and perhaps
disastrous in the extreme. It is a pretty thing (and perhaps an easy one, in
the estimation of the world) for an army of mounted men to be gaily pranc-
ing over the boundless green fields of the West, and it is so for a little
distance — but it would be well that the world should be apprised of some of
the actual difficulties that oppose themselves to the success of such a cam-
paign, that they may not censure too severely, in case this command should
fail to accomplish the objects for which they were organized.

In the first place, from the great difficulty of organizing and equipping,
these troops are starting too late in the season for their summer's campaign,
by two months. The journey which they have to perform is 8 very long one,

39

and although the first part of it will be picturesque and pleasing, the after
part of it will be tiresome and fatiguing in the extreme. As they advance
to the West, the grass (and consequently the game) will be gradually dimi-
nishing, and water in many parts of the county not to be found.

As the troops will be obliged to subsist themselves a great part of the way,
it will be extremely difficult to do it under such circumstances, and at the
same time hold themselves in readiness, with half-famished horses and men
nearly exhausted, to contend with a numerous enemy who are at home, on
the ground on which they were born , with horses fresh and ready for action. It
is not probable, however, that the Indians will venture to take advantage of
such circumstances ; but I am inclined to think, that the expedition will be
more likely to fail from another source : it is my opinion that the appearance
of so large a military force in their country, will alarm the Indians to that
degree, that they will fly with their families to their hiding-places amongst
those barren deserts, which they themselves can reach only by great fatigue
and extreme privation, and to which our half-exhausted troops cannot possi-
bly follow them. From these haunts their warriors would advance and annoy
the regiment as much as they could, by striking at their hunting parties and
cutting off their supplies. To attempt to pursue them, if they cannot be
called to a council, would be as useless as to follow the wind ; for our troops
in such a case, are in a country where they are obliged to subsist themselves,
and the Indians being on fresh horses, with a supply of provisions, would
easily drive all the buff'aloes ahead of them ; and endeavour, as far as pos-
sible, to decoy our troops into the barren parts of the country, where they
could not find the means of subsistence.

The plan designed to be pursued, and the only one that can succeed, is
to send runners to the different bands, explaining the friendly intentions of
our Government, and to invite them to a meeting. For this purpose several
Camanchee and Pawnee prisoners have been purchased from the Osages,
who may be of great service in bringing about a friendly interview.

I ardently hope that this plan may succeed, for I am anticipating great
fatigue and privation in the endeavour to see these wild tribes together ; that
I may be enabled to lay before the world a just estimate of their manners
and customs.

I hope that ray suggestions may not be truly prophetic ; but I am con-
strained to say, that I doubt very much whether we shall see anything more
of them than their trails, and the sites of their deserted villages.

Several companies have already started from this place ; and the remain-
ing ones will be on their march in a day or two. General Leavenworth will
accompany them 200 miles, to the mouth of False Washita, and I shall be
attached to his staff. Incidents which may occur, I shall record. Adieu.

Note. — In the mean time, as it may be long before I can write again, I send you some
account of the Osages ; whom I have been visiting and painting during the two months
I have been staying here.

LETTER— No. 38.

FORT GIBSON, ARKANSAS.

Nearly two months have elapsed since I arrived at this post, on my
way up the river from the Mississippi, to join the regiment of dragoons on
their campaign into the country of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts ;
during which time, 1 have been industriously at work with my brush and
my pen, recording the looks and the deeds of the Osages, who inhabit the
country on the North and the West of this.

The Osage, or (as they call themselves) Wa-saw-see, are a tribe of about
5200 in numbers, inhabiting and hunting over the head-waters of the
Arkansas, and Neosho or Grand Rivers. Their present residence is about
700 miles West of the Mississippi river ; in three villages, constituted of
wigwams, built of barks and flags or reeds. One of these villages is within
forty miles of this Fort ; another within sixty, and the third about eighty
miles. Their chief place of trade is with the sutlers at this post ; and
there are constantly more or less of them encamped about the garrison.

The Osages may justly be said to be the tallest race of men in North
America, either of red or white skins ; there being very few indeed of the
men, at their full growth, who are less than six feet in stature, and very
many of them six and a half, and others seven feet. They are at the same
time well-proportioned in their limbs, and good looking ; being rather nar-
row in the shoulders, and, like most all very tall people, a little inclined to
stoop ; not throwing the chest out, and the head and shoulders back, quite
as much as the Crows and Mandans, and other tribes amongst which I have
been familiar. Their movement is graceful and quick ; and in war and the
chase, I think they are equal to any of the tribes about them.

This tribe, though living, as they long have, near the borders of the civi-
lized community, have studiously rejected everything of civilized customs ;
and are uniformly dressed in skins of their own dressing — strictly main-
taining their primitive looks and manners, without the slightest appearance
of innovations, excepting in the blankets, which have been recently admitted
to their use instead of the buffalo robes, which are now getting scarce
airwngst them.

The Osages are one of the tribes who shave the head, as I have before
described when speaking of the Pawnees and Konzas, and they decorate

nd paint it with great care, and some considerable taste. There is a pecu
liarity in the heads of these people which is very striking to the eye of a
traveller; and which I find is produced by artificial means in infancy.
Their children, like those of all the other tribes, are carried on a board, and
slung upon the mother's back. The infants are lashed to the boards, with
their backs upon them, apparently in a very uncomfortable condition ; and
with the Osages, the head of the child bound down so tight to the board, as
to force in the occipital bone, and create an unnatural deficiency on the
back part, and consequently more than a natural elevation of the top of the
head. This custom, they told me they practiced, because " it pressed out
a bold and manly appearance in front." This I think, from observation, to
be rather imaginary than real ; as I cannot see that they exhibit any extra-
ordinary development in the front ; though they evidently shew a striking
deficiency on the back part, and also an unnatural elevation on the top of
the head, which is, no doubt, produced by this custom. The difference between
this mode and the one practiced by the Flat-head Indians beyond the
Rocky Mountains, consists in this, that the Flat-heads press the head 6e-
tween two boards ; the one pressing the frontal bone down, whilst the other
is pressing the occipital up, producing the most frightful deformity ; whilst
the Osages merely press the occipital in, and that, but to a moderate degree,
occasioning but a slight, and in many cases, almost immaterial, departure from
the symmetry of nature.

These people, like all those tribes who shave the head, cut and slit their
ears very much, and suspend from them great quantities of wampum
and tinsel ornaments. Their necks are generally ornamented also with
a profusion of wampum and beads ; and as they live in a warm climate where
there is not so much necessity for warm clothing, as amongst the more
Northern tribes, of whom I have been heretofore speaking ; their shoulders,
arms, and chests are generally naked, and painted in a great variety of
picturesque ways, with silver bands on the wrists, and oftentimes a profusion
of rings on the fingers.

The head-chief of the Osages at this time, is a young man by the name
of Clermont (plate 150), the son of a very distinguished chief of that name,
who recently died ; leaving his son his successor, with the consent of the
tribe. I painted the portrait of this chief at full length, in a beautiful dress,
his leggings fringed with scalp-locks, and in his hand his favourite and
valued war-club.

By his side I have painted also at full length, his wife and child (plate
161). She was richly dressed in costly cloths of civilized manufacture,
which is almost a solitary instance amongst the Osages, who so studiously
reject every luxury and every custom of civilized people ; and amongst
those, the use of whiskey, which is on all sides tendered to them —
but almost uniformily rejected ! This is an unusual and unaccountable
thing, unless the influence which tV^ missionaries and teachers have exer-

VOL. II. 6

42

cised over them, has induced them to abandon the pernicious and destructive
habit of drinking to excess. From what I can learn, the Osages were once
fond of whiskey; and, like all other tribes who have had the opportunitv,
were in the habit of using it to excess. Several very good and exemplary
men have been for years past exerting their greatest efforts, with those of
their families, amongst these people ; having established schools and agri-
cultural experiments amongst them. And I am fully of the opinion, that
this decided anomaly in the Indian country, has resulted from the devoted
exertions of these pious and good men.

Amongst the chiefs of the Osages, and probably the next in authority and
respect in the tribe, is Tchong-tas-sab-bee, the black dog (plate 152),
whom I painted also at full length, with his pipe in one hand, and his toma-
hawk in the other ; his head shaved, and ornamented with a beautiful crest
of deer s' hair, and his body wrapped in a huge mackinaw blanket.

This dignitary, who is blind in the left eye, is one of the most conspicuous
characters in all this country, rendered so by his huge size (standing in
height and in girth, above all of his tribe), as well as by his extraordinary
life. The Black Dog is familiarly known to all the officers of the army, as
well as to Traders and all other white men, who have traversed these regions,
and I believe, admired and respected by most of them.

His height, I think, is seven feet ; and his limbs full and rather fat,
making his bulk formidable, and weighing, perhaps, some 250 or 300
pounds. This man is chief of one of the three bands of the Osages, divided
as they are into three families ; occupying, as I before said, three villages,
denominated, " Clermont's Village," " Black Dog's Village," and " White
Hair's Village." The White Hair is another distinguished leader of the
Osages ; and some have awarded to him the title of Head Chief; but in
the jealous feelings of rivalry which have long agitated this tribe, and some
times, even endangered its peace, I believe it has been generally agreed
that his claims are third in the tribe; though he justly claims the title of a
chief, and a very gallant and excellent man. The portrait of this man, 1
regret to say, I did not get.

Amongst the many brave and distinguished warriors of the tribe, one of
the most noted and respected is Tal-lee (plate 153), painted at full length,
with his lance in his hand — his shield on his arm, and his bow and quiver
slung upon his back.

In this portrait, there is a fair specimen of the Osage figure and dress, as
well as of the facial outline, and shape and character of the head, and mode
of dressing and ornamenting it with the helmet-crest, and the eagle's
quill.

If I had the time at present, I would unfold to the reader some of the
pleasing and extraordinary incidents of this gallant fellow's military life ;
and lilso the anecdotes that have grown out of the familiar life I have led
with this handsome and high-minded gentleman of the wild woods and

93

152

CcctUn.

%

■<*••■

■*

-^V"

9i

G.Cdblin,.

153

43

prairies. Of the Black Dog I should say more also ; and most assure dW
will not fail to do justice to these extraordinary men, when I have leisure to
write off all my notes, and turn biographer. At present, f shake hands
with these two noblemen, and bid them good-bye; promising them, that if
I never get time to say more of their virtues — I shall say nothing agai:, st
them.

In PLATES 154, 155, 156, I have represented three braves, Ko-ha-tunk-a
(the. big crow) ; Nah-com-e-shee (the man of the bed), and Mun-ne-pus-
kee (he who is not afraid). These portraits set forth fairly the modes of
dress and ornaments of the young men of the tribe, from the tops
of their heads to the soles of their feet. The only dress they wear in
warm weather is the breech-cloth, leggings, and moccasins of dressed skins,
and garters worn immediately below the knee, ornamented profusely with
beads and wampum.*

These three distinguished and ambitious young men, were of the best
families in the Osage nation ; and as they explained to me. having formed
a peculiar attachment to each other — they desired me to paint them all on
one canvass, in which wish I indulged them.

Besides the above personages, I also painted the portraits of Wa-ho-

beck-ee ( ), a brave, and said to be the handsomest man in the Osage

nation ; Moi-een-e-shee (the constant walker) ; Wa-mash-ee-sheek (he who

takes away) ; Wa-chesh-uk (war) ; Mink-chesk ( ) ; Wash-im-pe-

ahee (the mad man), a distinguished warrior ; Shin-ga-wos-sa (the hand-
some bird) ; Cah-he-ga-shin-ga (the little chief), and Tcha-to-ga (the mad
buffalo) ; all of which will hang in my Indian Museum for the inspection
of the curious. The last mentioned of these was tried and convicted of the
murder of two white men during Adams's administration, and was afterwards
pardoned, and still lives, though in disgrace in his tribe, as one whose life
had been forfeited, " but (as they say) not worth taking."

The Osages have been formerly, and until quite recently, a powerful and
warlike tribe ; carrying their arms fearlessly through all of these realms ;
and ready to cope with foes of any kind that they were liable to meet. At
present, the case is quite different ; they have been repeatedly moved and
jostled along, from the head waters of the White river, and even from the
shores of the Mississippi, to where they now are ; and reduced by every war
and every move. The small-pox has taken its share of them at two or three
different times; and the Konzas, as they are now called, having been a

* These three young men, with eight or ten others, were sent out by the order of the
Black Dog and the other chiefs, with the regiment of dragoons, as guides and hunters,
for the expedition to the Camanchees, an account of which will be found in the following-
pages.

1 was a fellow-traveller and hunter with these young men for several months, and
therefore have related in the following pages some of the incidents of our mutual exploits
whilst in the Camanchee country .

44

part of the Osages, and receded from them, impaired their strength ; and
have at last helped to lessen the number of their warriors ; so that their
decline has been v6ry rapid, bringing them to the mere handful that now
exists of them ; though still preserving their valour as warriors, which they
are continually shewing off as bravely and as professionally as they can,
with the Pawnees and the Camanchees, with whom they are waging incessant
war ; although they are the principal sufferers in those scenes which they
fearlessly persist in, as if they were actually bent on their self-destruction.
Very great efforts have been, and are being made amongst these people to
civilize and christianize them ; and still I believe with but little success.
Agriculture they have caught but little of; and of religion and civilization
sti.U less. One good result has, however, been produced by these faithful
labourers, which is the conversion of these people to temperance ; which I
consider the first important step towards the other results, and which of
itself is an achievement that redounds much to the credit and humanity of
those, whose lives have been devoted to its accomplishment.

Here I must leave the Osages for the present, but not the reader, whose
company I still hope to have awhile longer, to hear how I get along amongst
the wild and untried scenes, that I am to start upon in a few days, in
company with the first regiment of dragoons, in the first grand civilized
Jbray, into the country of the wild and warlike Camanchees.

S5

154

155

156

&.CaiUn.

45

LETTER— No. 39.

MOUTH OF FALSE WASHITA, RED RIVER.

Under the protection of the United States dragoons, I arrived at this
place three days since, on my way again in search of the " Far West.'
How far I may this time follow the flying phantom, is uncertain. I am
already again in the land of the buffaloes and the fleet-bounding antelopes ;
and I anticipate, with many other beating hearts, rare sport and amuse-
ment amongst the wild herds ere long.

We shall start from hence in a few days, and other epistles I may occa-
sionally drop you from ter7'a incognita, for such is the great expanse of
country which we expect to range over ; and names we are to give, and
country to explore, as far as we proceed. We are, at this place, on the
banks of the Red River, having Texas under our eye on the opposite bank.
Our encampment is on the point of land between the Red and False Washita
rivers, at their junction ; and the country about us is a panorama too beau-
tiful to be painted with a pen : it is, like most of the country in these
regions, composed of prairie and timber, alternating in the most delightful
shapes and proportions that the eye of a connoisseur could desire. The
verdure is everywhere of the deepest green, and the plains about us are
literally speckled with buffalo. We are distant from Fort Gibson about
200 miles, which distance we accomplished in ten days.

A great part of the way, the country is prairie, gracefully undulating —
well watered, and continually beautified by copses and patches of timber.
On our way my attention was rivetted to the tops of some of the prairie
bluffs, whose summits I approached with inexpressible delight. I rode to
fhe top of one of these noble mounds, in company with my friends Lieut.
Wheelock and Joseph Chadwick, where we agreed that our horses instinc-
tively looked and admired. They thought not of the rich herbage that was
under their feet, but, with deep-drawn sighs, their necks were loftily curved,
and their eyes widely stretched over the landscape that was beneath us.
From this elevated spot, the horizon was bounded all around us by moun-
tain streaks of blue, softening into azure as they vanished, and the pictured
vales that intermediate lay, were deepening into green as the eye was re-
turning from its roamings. Beneath us, and winding through the waving
landscape was seen with peculiar effect, the " bold dragoons," marching in
beautiful order forming a train of a mile in length. Baggage waggons and

46

Indians {engages) helped to lengthen the procession. From the point where
we stood, the line was seen in miniature ; and the undulating hills ovei
which it was bending its way, gave it the appearance of a huge black snake
gracefully ghding over a rich carpet of green.

This picturesque country of 200 miles, over which we have passed, belongs
to the Creeks and Choctaws, and affords one of the richest and most desi-
rable countries in the world for agricultural pursuits.

Scarcely a day has passed, in which we have not crossed oak ridges, ot
several miles in breadth, with a sandy soil and scattering timber ; where
the ground was almost literally covered with vines, producing the greatest
profusion of delicious grapes, of five-eighths of an inch in diameter, and
hanging in such endless clusters, as justly to entitle this singular and solitary
wilderness to the style of a vineyard (and ready for the vintage), for many
miles together.

The next hour we would be trailing through broad and verdant valleys of
green prairies, into which we had descended ; and oftentimes find our
progress completely arrfested by hundreds of acres of small plum-trees, of
four or six feet in height ; so closely woven and interlocked together, as
entirely to dispute our progress, and sending us several miles around ; when
every bush that was in sight was so loaded with the weight of its delicious
wild fruit, that they were in many instances literally without leaves on their
branches, and bent quite to the ground. Amongst these, and in patches,
were intervening beds of wild roses, wild currants, and gooseberries. And
underneath and about them, and occasionally interlocked with them, huge
masses of the prickly pears, and beautiful and tempting wild flowers that
sweetened the atmosphere above ; whilst an occasional huge yellow rattle-
snake, or a copper-head, could be seen gliding over, or basking across their
vari-coloured tendrils and leaves.

On the eighth day of our march we met, for the first time, a herd of
buffaloes ; and being in advance of the command, in company with General
Leavenworth, Colonel Dodge, and several other officers ; we all had an
opportunity of testing the mettle of our horses and our own tact at the wild
and spirited death. The inspiration of chase took at once, and alike, with
the old and the young ; a beautiful plain lay before us, and we all gave
spur for the onset. General Leavenworth and Colonel Dodge, with their
pistols, gallantly and handsomely belaboured a fat cow, and were in together
at the death. I was not quite so fortunate in my selection, for the one
which I saw fit to gallant over the plain alone, of the same sex, younger
and coy, led me a hard chase, and for a long time, disputed my near ap-
proach ; when, at length, Xhefull speed of my horse forced us to close com-
pany, and she desperately assaulted his shoulders with her horns. My gun
was aimed, but missing its fire, the muzzle entangled in her mane, and was
instantly broke in two in my hands, and fell over my shoulder. My pistols
were then brought to bear upon her ; and though severely wounded, she

47

succeeded in reaching the thicket and left rae without " a deed of chivalry
to boast." — Since that day, the Indian hunters in our charge have supplied
us abundantly with buffalo meat ; and report says, that the country ahead
of us will afford us continual sport, and an abundant supply.

We are halting here for a few days to recruit horses and men, after which
the line of march will be resumed ; and if the Pawnees are as near to us as we
have strong reason to believe, from their recent trails and fires, it is probable
that within a few days we shall " thrash" them or "get thrashed;" unless
through their sagacity and fear, they elude our search by flying before us
to their hiding-places.

The prevailing policy amongst the officers seems to be, that of flogging
them first, and then establishing a treaty of peace. If this plan were morally
right, I do not think it practicable ; for, as enemies, I do not believe they will
stand to meet us ; but, a& friends, I think we may bring them to a talk, if
the proper means are adopted. We are here encamped on the ground on
which Judge Martin and servant were butchered, and his son kidnapped by
the Pawnees or Camanchees, but a few weeks since ; and the moment they
discover us in a large body, they will presume that we are relentlessly seek-
ing for revenge, and they will probably be very shy of our approach. We
are over the Washita — the " Rubicon is passed." We are invaders of a
sacred soil. We are carrying war in our front, — and " we shall soon see,
what we shall see."

The cruel fate of Judge Martin and family has been published in the
papers ; and it belongs to the regiment of dragoons to demand the surrender
of the murderers, and get for the information of the world, some authentic
account of the mode in which this horrid outrage was committed.

Judge Martin was a very respectable and independent man, living on the
lower part of the Red River, and in the habit of taking his children and a couple
of black men-servants with him, and a tent to live in, every summer, into
these wild regions ; where he pitched it upon the prairie, and spent several
months in killing buffaloes and other wild game, for his own private amuse-
ment. The news came to Fort Gibson but a few weeks before we started, that
he had been set upon by a party of Indians and destroyed. A detachment of
troops was speedily sent to the spot, where they found his body horridly
mangled, and also of one of his negroes ; and it is supposed th^t his son, a
fine boy of nine years of age, has been taken home to their villages by them.
Where they still retain him, and where it is our hope to recover him.

Great praise is due to General Leavenworth for his early and unremitted
efforts to facilitate the movements of the regiment of dragoons, by opening
roads from Gibson and Towson to this place. We found encamped two
companies of infantry from Fort Towson, who will follow in the rear of the
dragoons as far as necessary, transporting with waggons, stores and supplies,
and ready, at the same time, to co-operate with the dragoons in case of ne-
cessity. General Leavenworth will advance with us from this post, but how

48

far he may proceed is uncertain. We know not exactly the route which we
shall take, for circumstances alone must decide that point. We shall proba-
bly reach Cantonment Leavenworth in the fall ; and one thing is certain (in
the opinion of one who has already seen something of Indian life and country),
we shall meet with many severe privations and reach that place a jaded set
of fellows, and as ragged as Jack FalstafF's famous band.

You are no doubt inquiring, who are these Pawnees, Camanchees, and
Arapahoes, and why not tell us all about them ? Their history, numbers and
limits are still in obscurity ; nothing definite is yet known of them, but I
hope I sliail soon be able to give the world a clue to them.

If my life and health are preserved, I anticipate many a pleasing scene
for my pencil, as well as incidents worthy of reciting to the world, which I
shall occasionally do, as opportunity may occur.

LETTER— No. 40,

MOUTH OF FALSE WASHITA. :

Since I wrote my last Letter from this place, I have been detained here •
with the rest of the cavalcade from the extraordinary sickness which is
afflicting the regiment, and actually threatening to arrest its progress.

It was, as I wrote the other day, the expectation of the commanding
officer that we should have been by this time recruited and recovered
from sickness, and ready to start again on our march ; but since I wrote
nearly one half of the command, and included amongst them, several
officers, with General Leavenworth, have been thrown upon their backs,
with the prevailing epidemic, a slow and distressing bilious fever. The-
horses of the regiment are also sick, about an equal proportion, and seemingly ■
suffering with the same disease. They are daily dying, and men are calling '
sick, and General Leavenworth has ordered Col. Dodge to select all the
men, and all the horses that are able to proceed, and be otf lo-morrow
at nine o'clock upon the march towards the Camanchees, in hopes thereby
to preserve the health of the men, and make the most rapid advance towards -
the extreme point of destination.

General Leavenworth has reserved Col. Kearney to take command o(
the remaining troops and the little encampment ; and promises Colonel
Dodge that he will himself be well enough in a few days to proceed with
a party on his trail and overtake him at the Cross Timbers.

I should here remark, that when we started from Fort Gibson, the
regiment of dragoons, instead of the eight hundred which it was sup-
posed it would contain, had only organized to the amount of 400 men,
which was the number that started from that place ; and being at this
time half disabled, furnishes but 200 effective men to penetrate the wild
and untried regions of the hostile Camanchees. All has been bustle and
confusion this day, packing up and preparing for the start to-morrow
morning. My canvass and painting apparatus are prepared and ready for
the packhorse, which carries the goods and chattels of my esteemed com-
panion Joseph Chadwick and myself, and we shall be the two only guests
of the procession, and consequently the only two who will be at liberty to
i^allop about where we please, despite military rules and regulations, chasing
the wild herds, or seeking our own amusements in any such modes as we

VOl;. IT. J,

60

choose. Mr. Chadwick is a young man from St. Louis, with whom I ha/e
been long acquainted, and for whom I have the highest esteem. He has so
far stood by me as a faithful friend, and I rely implicitly on his society
during this campaign for much good company and amusement. Though I
have an order from the Secretary at War to the commanding officer, to protect
and supply me, I shall ask but for their protection ; as I have, with my friend
Joe, laid in our own supplies for the campaign, not putting the Govern-
ment to any expense on my account, in pursuit of my own private objects.

I am writing this under General Leavenworth's tent, where he has gene-
rously invited me to take up my quarters during our encampment here, and he
promises to send it by his express, which starts to-morrow with a mail from
this to Fort Towson on the frontier, some hundreds of miles below this. At
the time I am writing, the General lies pallid and emaciated before me, on his
couch, with a dragoon fanning him, whilst he breathes forty or fifty breaths
a minute, and writhes under a burning fever, although he is yet unwilling
even to admit that he is sick.

In my last Letter I gave a brief account of a buffalo chase, where General
Leavenworth and Col. Dodge took parts, and met with pleasing success.
The next day, while on the march, and a mile or so in advance of the regi-
ment, and two days before we reached this place. General Leavenworth,
Col. Dodge, Lieut. Wheelock and myself were jogging along, and all in turn
complaining of the lameness of our bones, from the chase on the former day,
when the General, who had long ago had his surfeit of pleasure of this kind
on the Upper Missouri, remonstrated against further indulgence, in the follow-
ing manner : " Well, Colonel, this running for buffaloes is bad business for us
— we are getting too old, and should leave such amusements to the young
men ; I have had enough of this fun in my life, and I am determined not
to hazard my limbs or weary my horse any more with it — it is the height of
folly for us, but will do well enough for boys." Col. Dodge assented
at once to his resolves, and approved them ; whilst I, who had tried it
in every form (and I had thought, to my heart's content), on the Upper Mis-
souri, joined my assent to the folly of our destroying our horses, which
had a long journey to perform, and agreed that I would join no more in the
buffalo chase, however near and inviting they might come to me.

In the midst of this conversation, and these mutual declarations (or rather
just at the end of them), as we were jogging along in " Indian ^le," and
General Leavenworth taking the lead, and just rising to the top of a little hill
over which it seems he had had an instant peep, he dropped himself suddenly
upon the side of his horse and wheeled back ! and rapidly informed us with an
agitated whisper, and an exceeding game contraction of the eye, that a snug
little band of buffaloes were quietly grazing just over the knoll in a beautiful
nietdow for running, and that if I would take to the left ! and Lieut. Whee-
lock to the right ! a«d let him and the Colonel dash right into the midst of
tliem! we could play the devil with them ! ! one half of this at least was

51

said after lie had got upon his feet and taken off his portmanteau and valise,
m which we had ali followed suit, and were mounting for the start ! and I
am almost sure nothing else was said, and if it had been I should not have
heard it, for I was too far off! and too rapidly dashed over the waving
grass ! and too eagerly gazing and plying the whip, to hear or to see, any-
thing but the trampling hoofs ! and the blackened throng 1 and the dariing
steeds ! and the flashing of guns ! until 1 had crossed the beautiful lawn !
and the limb of a tree, as my horse was darting into the timber, had crossed
my horse's back, and had scraped me into the grass, from which I soon
raised my head ! and all was silent ! and all out of sight ! save the dragoon
regiment, which I could see in distance creeping along on the top of a high
hill. I found my legs under me in a few moments, and put them in their
accustomed positions, none of which would for some time, answer the usual
purpose ; but I at last got them to work, and brought " Charley" out of
the bushes, where he had " brought up" in the top of a fallen tree, with-
out damage.

No buffalo was harmed m this furious assault, nor horse nor rider. Col.
Dodge and Lieut. Wheelock had joined the regiment, and General Leaven-
worth joined me, with too much game expression yet in his eye to allow
him more time than to say, " I'll have that calf before I quit !" and away he
sailed, " up hill and down dale," in pursuit of a fine calf that had been hidden
on the ground during the chase, and was now making its way over the prairies
in pursuit of the herd. I rode to the top of a little hill to witness the suc-
cess of the General's second effort, and after he had come close upon the
little aff"righted animal, it dodged about in such a manner as evidently to
baffle his skill, and perplex his horse, which at last fell in a hole, and both
were instantly out of my sight. I ran my horse with all possible speed to
the spot, and found him on his hands and knees, endeavouring to get up.
I dismounted and raised him on to his feet, when I asked him if he was hurt,
to which he replied " no, but I might have been," when he instantly fainted,
and I laid him on the grass. I had left my canteen with my portmanteau,
and had nothing to administer to him, nor was there water near us, I took
my lancet from my pocket and was tying his arm to open a vein, when he
recovered, and objected to the operation, assuring me that he was not in the
least injured. I caught his horse and soon got him mounted again, when
we rode on together, and after two or three hours were enabled to join the
regiment.

From that hour to the present, I think I have seen a decided change in
the General's face ; he has looked pale and feeble, and been continually
troubled with a violent cough. I have rode by the side of him from day to
day, and he several times told me that he was fearful he was badly hurt. He
looks very feeble now, and I very much fear the result of the fever that has
set in upon him.

We take up the line of march at bugle-call in the morning, and ii may

be a long time before 1 can send a Letter again, as there are no post-offices
nor mail carriers in the country where we are now going. It will take a
great deal to stop me from writing, however, and as I am now to enter upon
one of the most interesting parts of the Indian country, inasmuch as it
is one of the wildest and most hostile, I shall surely scribble an occasional
Letter, if I have to carry them in my own pocket, and bring them in with
wUVi me on my return.

53

letter-No. 41.

GREAT CAMANCHEE VILLAGE.

We are again at rest, and I am with subjects rude and almost infinite around
me, for my pen and my brush. The little band of dragoons are encamped
by a fine spring of cool water, within half a mile of the principal town
of the Camanchees, and in the midst of a bustling and wild scene, I assure
you ; and before I proceed to give an account of things and scenes that are
about me, I must return for a few moments to the place where I left the
Reader, at the encampment at False Washita, and rapidly travel with him
o/er the country that lies between that place and the Camanchee Village,
where I am now writing.

On the morning after my last Letter was written, the sound and efficient
part of the regiment was in motion at nine o'clock. And with them, my
friend " Joe" and I, with our provisions laid in, and all snugly arranged on
our packhorse, which we alternately led or drove between us.

Our course was about due West, on the divide between the Washita and
'Red Rivers, with our faces looking towards the Rocky Mountains. The
country over which we passed from day to day, was inimitably beautiful ;
being the whole way one continuous prairie of green fields, with occasional
clusters of timber and shrubbery, just enough for the uses of cultivating-man,
and for the pleasure of his eyes to dwell upon. The regiment was rather
more than half on the move, consisting of 250 men, instead of 200 as I pre-
dicted in my Letter from that place. All seemed gay and buoyant at the
fresh start, which all trusted was to liberate us from the fatal miasma which
we conceived was hovering about the mouth of the False Washita. We
advanced on happily, and met with no trouble until the second night of our
encampment, in the midst of which we were thrown into " pie" (as printers
would say,) in an instant of the most appalling alarm and confusion. We
were encamped on a beautiful prairie, where we were every hour apprehen-
sive of the lurking enemy. And in the dead of night, when all seemed to
be sound asleep and quiet, the instant sound and flash of a gun within a few
paces of us ! and then the most horrid and frightful groans that instantly
followed it, brought us all upon our hands and knees in an instant, and our
affrighted horses (which were breaking their lasos,) in full speed and fury
over our heads, with the frightful and mingled din of snorting, and cries of
"Indians! Indians! Pawnees!" &c., which rang from every part of our

54

little encampment ! In a few moments the excitement was chiefly over, and
silence restored ; when we could hear the trampling hoofs of the horses,
which were making off in all directions, (not unlike a drove of swine that
once ran into the sea, when they were possessed of devils) ; and leaving but
now and then an individual quadruped hanging at its stake within our litile
camp. The mode of our encampment was, uniformly m four hnes, forming
a square of fifteen or twenty rods in diameter. Upon these lines our saddles
and packs were all laid, at the distance of five feet from each other; and
each man, after grazing his horse, had it fastened with a rope or laso, to a
stake driven in the ground at a little distance from his feet ; thus enclosing
the horses all within the square, for the convenience of securing them in case
of attack or alarm. In this way we laid encamped, when we were awakened
by the alarm that I have just mentioned ; and our horses affrighted, dashed
out of the camp, and over the heads of their masters in the desperate
" Stampedo."

After an instant preparation for battle, and a little recovery from the fright,
which was soon effected by waiting a few moments in vain, for the enemy to
come on ; — a general explanation took place, which brought all to our legs
again, and convinced us that there was no decided obstacle, as yet, to our
reaching the Camanchee towns ; and after that, " sweet home," and the
arms of our wives and dear little children, provided we could ever overtake
and recover our horses, which had swept off in fifty directions, and with
impetus enough to ensure us employment for a day or two to come.

At the proper moment for it to be made, there was a generr/( enquiry for
the cause of this real misfortune, when it was ascertained to have originated
in the following manner. A " raw recruit," who was standing as one of
the sentinels on that night, saw, as he says " he supposed," an Indian creep-
mg out of a bunch of bushes a few paces in front of him, upon whom he
levelled his rifle ; and as (he poor creature did not " advance and give the
countersign at his call, nor any answer at all, he " let off!" and popped a
bullet through the heart of a poor dragoon horse, which had strayed away
on the night before, and had faithfully followed our trail all the day, and
was now, with a beastly misgiving, coming up, and slowly poking through
a little thicket of bushes into camp, to join its comrades, in servitude again !
The sudden shock of a gun, and the most appalling groans of this poor
dying animal, in the dead of night, and so close upon the heels of sweet
sleep, created a long vibration of nerves, and a day of great perplexity and
toil which followed, as we had to retrace our steps twenty miles or more, in
pursuit of aftrighted horses ; of which some fifteen or twenty took up wild
and free life upon the prairies, to which they were abandoned, as they could
not be found. After a detention of two days in consequence of this disaster,
we took up the line of march again, and pursued our course with vigour and
success, over a continuation of green fields, enamelled with wild flowers, and
pleasingly relieved with patches and groves of timber.

55

On the fourth day of our march, we discovered many fresh signs of bufFa-'
loes ; and at last, immense herds of them grazing on the distant hills. In-
dian trails were daily growing fresh, and their smokes were seen in various
directions ahead of us. And on the same day at noon, we discovered a large
party at several miles distance, sitting on their horses and looking at us.
From the glistening of the blades of their lances, which were blazing as they
turned them in the sun, it was at first thought that they were Mexican
cavalry, who might have been apprized of our approach into their country,
and had advanced to contest the point with iis. On drawing a little nearer,
however, and scanning them closer with our spy-glasses, they were soon ascer-
tained to be a war-party of Camanchees, on the look out for their enemies.

The regiment was called to a halt, and the requisite preparations made and
orders issued, we advanced in a direct line towards them until we had approach-
ed to within two or three miles of them, when they suddenly disappeared over
the hill, and soon after shewed themselves on another mound farther off and
in a different direction. The course of the regiment was then changed, and
another advance towards them was commenced, and as before, they disap-
peared and shewed themselves in another direction. After several such
efforts which proved ineffectual. Col. Dodge ordered the command to halt,
while he rode forward with a few of his staff, and an ensign carrying a white
flag. I joined this advance, and the Indians stood their ground until we
had come within half a mile of them, and could distinctly observe all their
numbers and movements. We then came to a halt, and the white flag was
sent a little in advance, and waved as a signal for them to approach ; at
which one of their party galloped out in advance of the war-party, on a milk
white horse, carrying a piece of white buffalo skin on the point of his long
lance in reply to our flag.

This moment was the commencement of one of the most thrilling and
beautiful scenes I ever witnessed. All eyes, both from his own party and
ours, were fixed upon the manoeuvres of this gallant little fellow, and he well
knew it.

The distance between the two parties was perhaps half a mile, and that
a beautiful and gently sloping prairie; over which he was for the space of a
quarter of an hour, reining and spurring his maddened horse, and gradually
approaching us by tacking to the right and the left, like a vessel beating
against the wind. He at length came prancing and leaping along till he met
the flag of the regiment, when he leaned his spear for a moment against it,
looking the bearer full in the Cace, when he wheeled his horse, and dashed
up to Col. Dodge (plate 157), with his extended hand, which was instantly
grasped and shaken. We all had him by the hand in a moment, and the
rest of the party seeing him received in this friendly manner, instead of being
sacrificed, as they undoubtedly expected, started under " full whip" in a
direct line towards us, and in a moment gathered, like a black cloud, around
us ! The regiment then moved up in regular order, and a general shake of

56

the hand ensued, which was accomplished by each warrior riding along the
ranks and shaking the hand of every one as he passed. This necessary form
took up considerable time, and during the whole operation, my eyes were fixed
upon the gallant and wonderful appearance of the little fellow who bore us
the white flag on the point of his lance. He rode a fine and spirited wild
horse, which was as white as the drifted snow, with an exuberant mane, and
its long and bushy tail sweeping the ground. In his hand he tightly drew
the reins upon a heavy Spanish bit, and at every jump, plunged into the
animal's sides, till they were in a gore of blood, a huge pair of spurs, plun-
dered, no doubt, from the Spaniards in their border wars, which are con-
tinually waged on the Mexican frontiers. The eyes of this n'^ble little steed
seemed to be squeezed out of its head ; and its fright, and its agitation had
brought out upon its skin a perspiration that was fretted into a white foam
and lather. The warrior's quiver was slung on the warrior's back, and his bow
grasped in his left hand, ready for instant use, if called for. His shield was
on his arm, and across his thigh, in a beautiful cover of buckskin, his gun
was slung — and in his right hand his lance of fourteen feet in length.

Thus armed and equipped was this dashing cavalier ; and nearly in
the same manner, all the rest of the party ; and very many of them leading
an extra horse, which we soon learned was the favourite war-horse ; and
from which circumstances altogether, we soon understood that they were a
war-party in search of their enemy.

After a shake of the hand, we dismounted, and the pipe was lit, and
passed around. And then a " talk" was held, in which we werf aided by a
Spaniard we luckily had with us, who could converse with one of the
Camanchees, who spoke some Spanish.

Colonel Dodge explained to them the friendly motives with which we
were penetrating their country — that we were sent by the President to reach
their villages — to see the chiefs of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts — to
shake hands with them, and to smoke the pipe of peace, and to establish
an acquaintance, and consequently a system of trade that would be bene-
ficial to both.

They listened attentively, and perfectly appreciated ; and taking Colonel
Dodge at his word, relying with confidence in what he told them ; they in-
formed us that their great town was within a few days' march, and pointing
in the direction — offered to abandon their war-excursion, and turn about
and escort us to it, which they did in perfect good faith. We were on the
march in the afternoon of that day, and from day to day they busily led us
on, over hill and dale, encamping by the side of us at night, and resumitig
the march m the morning.

During this march, over one of the most lovely and picturesque countxies
in the world, we had enough continually to amuse and excite us. The whole
coutitry seemed at times to be alive with buffaloes, and bands of wild'
horses.

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We had with us about thirty Osage and Cherokee, Seneca and Delaware
Indians, employed as guides and hunters for the regiment ; and with the
war-party of ninety or a hundred Camanchees, we formed a most picturesque
appearance while passing over the green fields, and consequently, sad
havoc amongst the herds of buffaloes, which we were almost hourly passing.
We were now out of the influence and reach of bread stuffs, and subsisted
ourselves on buffaloes' meat altogether; and the Indians of the different tribes,
emulous to shew their skill in the chase, and prove the mettle of their horses,
took infinite pleasure in dashing into every herd that we approached; by which
means, the regiment was abundantly supplied from day to day with fresh meat.

In one of those spirited scenes when the regiment were on the march, and
the Indians with their bows and arrows were closely plying a band of these
affrighted animals, they made a bolt through the line of the dragoons, and a
complete breach, through which the whole herd passed, upsetting horses and
riders in the most amusing manner (plate 158), and receiving such shots
as came from those guns and pistols that were aimed, and not fired off mto
the empty air.

The buffaloes are very blind animals, and owing, probably in a great
measure, to the profuse locks that hang over their eyes, they run chiefly by
the nose, and follow in the tracks of each other, seemingly heedless of what is
about them ; and of course, easily disposed to rush in a mass, and the whole
tribe or gang to pass in the tracks of those that have first led the way.

The tract of country over which we passed, between the False Washita
and this place, is stocked, not only with buffaloes, but v^ith numerous bands
jf wild horses, many of which we saw every day. There is no other animal
Dn the prairies so wild and so sagacious as the horse ; and none other so
difficult to come up with. So remarkably keen is their eye, that they will
generally run " at the sight," when they are a mile distant ; being, no
doubt, able to distinguish the character of the enemy that is approaching
when at that distance ; and when in motion, will seldom stop short of three
or four miles. I made many attempts to approach them by stealth, when
they were grazing and playing their gambols, without ever having been
more than once able to succeed. In this instance, I left my horse, and
with my friend Chadwick, skulked through a ravine for a couple of miles;
until we were at length brought within gun-shot of a fine herd of them, when
I used my pencil for some time, while we were under cover of a little hedge
of bushes which effectually screened us from their view. In this herd we
saw all the colours, nearly, that can be seen in a kennel of Enghsh hounds.
Some were milk white, some jet black — others were sorrel, and bay, and
cream colour — many were of an iron grey ; and others were pied, containing
a variety of colours on the same animal. Their manes were very profuse, and
hanging in the wildest confusion over their necks and faces — and their long
tails swept the ground (see plate 160).

After we had satisfied our curiosity in looking at these proud and playfu'

VOL. II. I

58

animals, we agreed that we would try the experiment of " creasing" one,
as it is termed in this country ; which is done by shooting them through the
gristle on the top of the neck, which stuns them so that they fall, and are
secured with the hobbles on the feet ; after which they rise again without
fatal injury. This is a practice often resorted to by expert hunters, with
good rifles, who are not able to take them in any other way. My friend
Joe and I were armed on this occasion, each with a light fowling-piece,
which have not quite the preciseness in throwing a bullet that a rifle lias ;
and having both levelled our pieces at the withers of a noble, fine-looking
iron grey, we pulled trigger, and the poor creature fell, and the rest of the
herd were out of sight in a moment. We advanced speedily to him, and
had the most inexpressible mortification of finding, that we never had thought
of hobbles or halters, to secure him — and in a few moments more, had the
still greater mortification, and even anguish, to find that one of our shots
had broken the poor creature's neck, and that he was quite dead-

The laments of poor Chadwick for the wicked folly of destroying this
noble animal, were such as I never shall forget ; and so guUty did we feel
that we agreed that when we joined the regiment, we should boast of all
the rest of our hunting feats, but never make mention of this.

The usual mode of taking the wild horses, is, by throwing the laso, whilst
pursuing them at full speed (plate 161), and dropping a noose over their
necks, by which their speed is soon checked, and they are " choked down."
The laso is a thong of rawhide, some ten or fifteen yards in length, twisted
or braided, with a noose fixed at the end of it ; which, when the coil of the
laso is thrown out, drops with great certainty over the neck of the animal,
which is soon conquered.

The Indian, when he starts for a wild horse, mounts one of the fleetest
he can get, and coiling his laso on his arm, starts off" under the " full whip,"
till he can enter the band, when he soon gets it over the neck of one of the
number ; when he instantly dismounts, leaving his own horse, and runs as
fast as he can, letting the laso pass out gradually and carefully through his
hands, until the horse falls for want of breath, and lies helpless on the
ground ; at which time the Indian advances slowly towards the horse's head,
keeping his laso tight upon its neck, until he fastens a pair of hobbles on
the animal's two forefeet, and also loosens the laso (giving the horse chance to
breathe), and gives it a noose around the under jaw, by which he gets great
power over the affrighted animal, which is rearing and plunging when it
gets breath ; and by which, as he advances, hand over hand, towards tlic
horse's nose (plate 162), he is able to hold it down and prevent it from
throwing itself over on its back, at the hazard of its limbs. By this means
e gradually advances, until he is able to place his hand on the animal's
nose, and over its eyes ; and at length to breathe in its nostrils, when it
toon becomes docile and conquered ; so that he has little else to do than to
remove the hobbles from its feet, and lead or ride it into camp.

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59

This " breaking down" or taming, however, is not without the most des-
perate trial on the part of the horse, which rears and plunges in every
possible way to effect its escape, until its power is exhausted, and it becomes
covered with foam ; and at last yields to the power of man, and becomes
his willing slave for the rest of its life. By this very rigid treatment, the
poor animal seems to be so completely conquered, that it makes no further
struggle for its freedom ; but submits quietly ever after, and is led or rode
away with very little difficulty. Great care is taken, however, in this and
in subsequent treatment, not to subdue the spirit of the animal, which is
carefully preserved and kept up, although they use them with great severity ;
being, generally speaking, cruel masters.

The wild horse of these regions is a small, but very powerful animal ;
with an exceedingly prominent eye, sharp nose, high nostril, small feet and
delicate leg ; and undoubtedly, have sprung from a stock introduced by
the Spaniards, at the time of the invasion of Mexico ; which having strayed
off upon the prairies, have run wild, and stocked the plains from this to
Lake Winnepeg, two or three thousand miles to the North.*

This useful animal has been of great service to the Indians living on these
vast plains, enabling them to take their game more easily, to carry their
burthens, &c. ; and no doubt, render them better and handier service than
if they were of a larger and heavier breed. Vast numbers of them are also
killed for food by the Indians, at seasons when buffaloes and other game
are scarce. They subsist themselves both in winter and summer by biting
at the grass, which they can always get in sufficient quantities for their
food.

Whilst on our march we met with many droves of these beautiful animals,
and several times had the opportunity of seeing the Indians pursue them,
and take them with the laso. The first successful instance of the kind was
effected by one of our guides and hunters, by the name of Beatte, a French-
man, whose parents had lived nearly their whole lives in the Osage village;
and who, himself had been reared from infancy amongst them ; and in a
continual life of Indian modes and amusements, had acquired all the skill
and tact of his Indian teachers, and probably a little more ; for he is reputed,
without exception, the best hunter in these Western regions.

This instance took place one day whilst the regiment was at its usual halt
of an hour, in the middle of the day.

When the bugle sounded for a halt, and all were dismounted, Beatte and
several others of the hunters asked permission of Col. Dodge to pursue a
drove of horses which were then in sight, at a distance of a mile or more
from us. The permission was given, and they started off, and by following

* There are many very curious traditions about the first appearance of horses amongst
the different tribes, and many of which bear striking proof of the above fact. Most
of the tribes have some story about the first appearance of horses ; and amongst the Sioux,
they have beautifully recorded the fact, by giving it the name of Shonka-walcon (the me-
dicine-dog).

60

a ravine, approached near to the unsuspecting animals, when they broke
upon them and pursued them for several miles in full view of the regiment.
Several of us had good glasses, with which we could plainly see every move-
ment and every manoeuvre. After a race of two or three miles, Beatte was
seen with his wild horse down, and the band and the other hunters rapidly
leaving him.

Seeing him in this condition, I galloped off to him as rapidly as possible,
and had the satisfaction of seeing the whole operation of " breaking down,"
and bringing in the wild animal ; and in plate 162, I have given a fair
representation of the mode by which it was done. When he had conquered
the horse in this way, his brother, who was one of the unsuccessful ones in
tiie chase, came riding back, and leading up the horse of Beatte which he
had left behind, and after staying with us a few minutes, assisted Beatte in
leading his conquered wild horse towards the regiment, where it was satis-
factorily examined and commented upon, as it was trembling and covered
with white foam, until the bugle sounded the signal for marching, when all
mounted ; and with the rest, Beatte, astride of his wild horse, which had a
buffalo skin girted on its back, and a halter, with a cruel noose around the
under jaw. In this manner the command resumed its march, and Beatte
astride of his wild horse, on which he rode quietly and without difficulty,
until night ; the whole thing, the capture, and breaking, all having been
accomplished within the space of one hour, our usual and daily halt at
midday.

Several others of these animals were caught in a similar manner during
our march, by others of our hunters, affording us satisfactory instances of
this most extraordinary and almost unaccountable feat.

The horses that were caught were by no means very valuable specimens,
being rather of an ordinary quality ; and I saw to my perfect satisfaction,
that the finest of these droves can never be obtained in this way, as they
take the lead at once, when they are pursued, and in a few moments will be
seen half a mile or more ahead of the bulk of the drove, which they are
leading off. There is not a doubt but there are many very fine and valuable
horses amongst these herds ; but it is impossible for the Indian or other
hunter to take them, unless it be done by " creasing" them, as I have before
described ; which is often done, but always destroys the spirit and character
of the animal.

After many hard and tedious days of travel, we were at last told by our
Camanchee guides that we were near their village ; and having led us to the
top of a gently rising elevation on the prairie, they pointed to their village at
several miles distance, in the midst of one of the most enchanting valleys
that human eyes ever looked upon. The general course of the valley is
from N. W. to S. E., of several miles in width, with a magnificent range of
mountains rising in distance beyond ; it being, without doubt, a huge " spur"
of the Rocky Mountains, composed entirely of a reddish granite or gneis

61

corresponding with the other links of this stupendous chain. In the midst
of this lovely valley, we could just discern amongst the scattering shrubbery
that lined the banks of the watercourses, the tops of the Camanchee wig-
wams, and the smoke curling above them. The valley, for a mile distant
about the village, seemed speckled with horses and mules that were grazing
in it. The chiefs of the war-party requested the regiment to halt, until they
could ride in, and inform their people who were coming. We then dis-
mounted for an hour or so ; when we could see them busily running and
catching their horses ; and at length, several hundreds of their braves and
warriors came out at full speed to welcome us, and forming in a line in front
of us, as we were again mounted, presented a formidable and pleasing ap-
pearance (plate 163). As they wheeled their horses, they very rapidly
formed in a line, and " dressed" like well-disciplined cavalry. The regiment
was drawn up in three columns, with a line formed in front, by Colonel
Dodge and his staff, in which rank my friend Chadwick and I were also
paraded ; when we had a fine view of the whole manoeuvre, which was pic-
turesque and thrilling in the extreme.

In the centre of our advance was stationed a white flag, and the Indians
answered to it with one which they sent forward and planted by the side of it.*

The two lines were thus drawn up, face to face, within twenty or thirty
yards of each other, as inveterate foes that never had met ; and, to the ever-
lasting credit of the Camanchees, whom the world had- always looked upon
as murderous and hostile, they had all come out in this manner, with their
heads uncovered, and without a weapon of any kind, to meet a war-party
bristling with arms, and trespassing to the middle of their country. They
had every reason to look upon us as their natural enemy, as they have been
in the habit of estimating all pale faces ; and yet, instead of arms or defences,
or even of frowns, they galloped out and looked us in our faces, without an
expression of fear or dismay, and evidently with expressions of joy and im-
patient pleasure, to shake us by the hand, on the bare assertion of Colonel
Dodge, which had been made to the chiefs, that " we came to see them on
a friendly visit.

After we had sat and gazed at each other in this way for some half an
hour or so, the head chief of the band came galloping up to Colonel Dodge,
and having shaken him by the hand, he passed on to the other officers in
turn, and then rode alongside of the different columns, shaking hands with
every dragoon in the regiment ; he was followed in this by his principal

• It is a fact which I deem to he worth noting here, that amongst all Indian trihes, that
I have yet visited, in their primitive, as well as improved state, the white Jiag is used as a
flag of truce, as it is in the civilized parts of the world, and held to he sacred and inviolable.
The chief going to war always carries it in some form or other, generally of a piece of white
skin or bark, rolled on a small stick, and carried under his dress, ot otherwise ; and also a
red flag, either to be unfurled when occasion requires the white Jiag as a truce, and the red
one for battle, or, as they say, " for blood."

62

chiefs and braves, which altogether took up nearly an hour longer, when
the Indians retreated slowly towards their village, escorting us to the banks
of a fine clear stream, and a good spring of fresh water, half a mile from
their village, which they designated as a suitable place for our encampment
and we were soon bivouacked at the place from which I am now scribbling.

No sooner were we encamped here (or, in other words, as soon as our
things were thrown upon the ground,) Major Mason, Lieutenant Wheelock,
Captain Brown, Captain Duncan, my friend Chadwick and myself, galloped
off to the village, and through it in the greatest impatience to the prairies,
where there were at least three thousand horses and mules grazing ; all of us
eager and impatient to see and to appropriate the splendid Arabian horses^
which we had so often heard were owned by the Camanchee warriors. We
galloped around busily, and glanced our eyes rapidly over them ; and all soon
returned to the camp, quite " crest fallen" and satisfied, that, although
there were some tolerable nags amongst this medley group of all colours and
all shapes, the beautiful Arabian we had so often heard of at the East, as
belonging to the Camanchees, must either be a great ways further South
than this, or else it must be a horse of the imagination.

The Camanchee horses are generally small, all of them being of the wild
breed, and a very tough and serviceable animal ; and from what I can learn
here of the chiefs, there are yet, farther South, and nearer the Mexican borders,
some of the noblest, animals in use of the chiefs, yet I do not know that
we have any more reason to rely upon this information, than that which had
made our horse-jockeys that we have with us, to run almost crazy for the
possession of those we were to find at this place. Amongst the immense herds
we found grazing here, one-third perhaps are mules, which are much more
valuable than the horses.

Of the horses, the officers and men have purchased a number of the best,
by giving a very inferior blanket and butcher's knife, costing in all about
four dollars ! These horses in our cities at the East, independent of the name,
putting them upon their merits alone, would be worth from eighty to one
hundred dollars each, and not more.

A vast many of such could be bought on such terms, and are hourly
brought into camp for sale. If we had goods to trade for them, and means
of getting them home, a great profit could be made, which can easily be
learned from the following transaction that took place yesterday. A fine look-
ing Indian was hanging about my tent very closely for several days, and con-
tinually scanning an old and half-worn cotton umbrella, which I carried over
me to keep off the sun, as I was suffering with fever and ague, and at last
proposed to purchase it of me, with a very neat limbed and pretty pied horse
which he was riding. He proposed at first, that I should give him a knife and
the umbrella, but as I was not disposed for the trade (the umbrella being so
useful an article to me, that I did not know how to part with it, not knowing
whether there was another in the regiment) ; he came a second time, and

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offered me the horse for the umbrella alone, which offer I still rejected ; and
he went back to the village, and soon returned with another horse of a much
better quality, supposing that I had not valued the former one equal to the
umbrella.

With this he endeavoured to push the trade, and after 1 had with great
difficidty made him understand that I was sick, and could not part with it,
he turned and rode back towards the village, and in a short time returned
again with one of the largest and finest mules I ever saw, proposing that,
which I also rejected ; when he disappeared again.

la a few moments my friend Captain Duncan, in whose hospitable tent I
was quartered, came in, and the circumstance being related to him, started
up some warm jockey feelings, which he was thoroughly possessed of, when

he instantly sprang upon his feet,- and exclaimed, " d mn the fellow !

where is he gone ? here, Gosset ! get my old umbrella out of the pack, I
rolled it up with my wiper and ihe frying-pan — get it as quick as lightning !"
with it in his hand, the worthy Captain soon overtook the young man, and
escorted him into the village, and returned in a short time — not with the
mule, but with the second horse that had been offered to me.

64

LETTER— No. 42.

GREAT CAMANCHEE VILLAGE.

The village of the Camanchees by the side of which we are encamped, »«
composed of six or eight hundred skin-covered lodges, made of poles and
buffalo skins, in the manner precisely as those of the Sioux and other Mis-
souri tribes, of which I have heretofore given some account. This village
with its thousands of wild inmates, with horses and dogs, and wild sports
and domestic occupations, presents a most curious scene ; and the manners
and looks of the people, a rich subject for the brush and the pen.

In the view I have made of it (plate 164), but a small portion of the village
is shewn ; which is as well as to shew the whole of it, inasmuch as the wigwams,
as well as the customs, are the same in every part of it. In the foreground is seen
the wigwam of the chief ; and in various parts, crotches and poles, on which
the women are drying meat, and "graining" buffalo robes. These people,
living in a country where buffaloes are abundant, make their wigwams more
easily of their skins, than of anything else ; and with them find greater
facilities of moving about, as circumstances often require ; when they drag
them upon the poles attached to their horses, and erect them again with
little trouble in their new residence.

We white men, strolling about amongst their wigwams, are looked upon
with as much curiosity as if we had come from the mooB ; and evidently
create a sort of chill in the blood of children and dogs, when we make our
appearance. I was pleased to-day with the simplicity of a group which came
out in front of the chief's lodge to scrutinize my faithful friend Chadwick and
I, as we were strolling about the avenues and labyrinths of their village ;
upon which I took out my book and sketched as quick as lightning, whilst
" Joe" rivetted their attention by some ingenious trick or other, over my
shoulders, which I did not see, having no time to turn my head (plate 165).
These were the juvenile parts of the chief's family, and all who at this mo-
ment were at home ; the venerable old man, and his three or four wives,
making a visit, like hundreds of others, to the encampment.

In speaking just above, of the mode of moving their wigwams, and chang-
ing their encampments, I should have said a little more, and should also
have given to the reader, a sketch of one of these extraordinary scenes, which
I have had the good luck to witness (plate 166) ; where several thousands

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were on the march, and furnishing one of those laughable scenes which daily
happen J where so many dogs, and so many squaws, are travelling in such a
confiised mass ; with so many conflicting interests, and so many local and
individual rights to be pertinaciously claimed and protected. Each horse
drags his load, and each dog, i. e. each dog that will do it (and there are
many that will not), also dragging his wallet on a couple of poles ; and each
squaw with her load, and all together (notwithstanding their burthens)
cherishing their pugnacious feelings, which often bring them into general
conflict, commencing usually amongst the dogs, and sure to result in fisti-
cuffs of the women ; whilst the men, riding leisurely on the right or the left,
take infinite pleasure in overlooking these desperate conflicts, at which they
are sure to have a laugh, and in which, as sure never to lend a hand.

The Gamanchees, like the Northern tribes, have many games, and in
pleasant weather seem to be continually practicing more or less of them, on
the prairies, back of, and contiguous to, their village.

In their ball-plays, and some other games, they are far behind the
Sioux and others of the Northern tribes ; but, in racing horses and riding,
they are not equalled by any other Indians on the Continent. Racing
horses, it would seem, is a constant and almost incessant exercise, and
their principal mode of gambling; and perhaps, a more finished set of
jockeys are not to be found. The exercise of these people, in a country
where horses are so abundant, and the country so fine for riding, is chiefly
done on horseback ; and it " stands to reason," that such a people, who
have been practicing from their childhood, should become exceedingly
.expert in this wholesome and beautiful exercise. Amongst their feats of
riding, there is one that has astonished me more than anything of the kind
I have ever seen, or expect to see, in my life : — a stratagem of war, learned
and practiced by every young man in the tribe ; by which he is able to drop
his body upon the side of his horse at the instant he is passing, effectually
screened from his enemies' weapons (plate 167) as he lays in a horizonta'
position behind the body of his horse, with his heel hanging over the horses
back ; by which he has the power of throwing himself up again, and changing
to the other side of the horse if necessary. In this wonderful condition, he
will hang whilst his horse is at fullest speed, carrying with him his bow and
his shield, and also his long lance of fourteen feet in length, all or either of
which he will wield upon his enemy as he passes ; rising and throwing his
arrows over the horse's back, or with equal ease and equal success under
the horse's neck.* This astonishing feat which the young men have been
repeatedly playing oflf to our surprise as well as amusement, whilst they have

• Since writing tbe above, I have conversed with some of the young men of the Paw-
nees, who practice the same feat, and who told me they could throw the arrow from under
the horse's belly, and elevate it upon an enemy with deadly effect !

This feat I did not see performed, but from what I did see, I feel inclined to believe that
these young men were boasting of no more than thev were able to perform.
VOL. II. K

66

been galloping about in front of our tents, completely puzzled the whole of
us ; and appeared to be the result of magic, rather than of skill acquired by
practice. I had several times great curiosity to approach them, to ascertain
by what means their bodies could be suspended in this manner, where nothing
could be seen but the heel hanging over the horse's back. In these endea-
vours 1 was continually frustrated, until one day I coaxed a young fellow up
within a little distance of me, by offering him a few plugs of tobacco, and he
in a moment solved the difficulty, so far as to render it apparently more
feasible than before ; yet leaving it one of the most extraordinary results of
practice and persevering endeavours. I found on examination, that a shorthair
halter was passed around under the neck of the horse, and both ends tightly
braided into the mane, on the withers, leaving a loop to hang under the neck,
and against the breast, which, being caught up in the hand, makes a sling into
which the elbow falls, taking the weight of the body on the middle of the
upper arm. Into this loop the rider drops suddenly and fearlessly, leaving
his heel to hang over the back of the horse, to steady him, and also to restore
him when he wishes to regain his upright position on the horse's back.

Besides this wonderful art, these people have several other feats of horse-
manship, which they are continually showing off; which are pleasing and
extraordinary, and of which they seem very proud. A people who spend so
very great a part of their lives, actually on their horses' backs, must
needs become exceedingly expert in every thing that pertains to riding — to
war, or to the chase ; and I am ready, without hesitation, to pronounce the
Camanchees the most extraordinary horsemen that 1 have seen yet in all my
travels, and I doubt very much whether any people in the world can surpass -
them.

The Camanchees are in stature, rather low, and in person, often approach-
ing to corpulency. In their movements, they are heavy and ungraceful ;
and on their feet, one of the most unattractive and slovenly-looking races of
Indians that I have ever seen ; but the moment they mount their horses,
they seem at once metamorphosed, and surprise the spectator with the ease
and elegance of their movements. A Camanchee on his feet is out of his
element, and comparatively almost as awkward as a monkey on the ground,
without a limb or a branch to cling to ; but the moment he lays his hand
upon his horse, his/ace, even, becomes handsome, and he gracefully flies away
like a different being.

Our encampment is surrounded by continual swarms of old and young —
of middle aged — of male and female — of dogs, and every moving thing that
constitutes their community ; and our tents are lined with the chiefs and other
worthies of the tribe. So it will be seen there is no difficulty of getting sub-
jects enough for my brush, as well as for my pen, whilst residing in this place.

The head chief of this village, who is represented to us here, as the head
of the nation, is a mild and pleasant looking gentleman, without anything
striking or peculiar in his looks (plate 168) ; dressed in a very humble

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manner, with very few ornaments upon him, and his hair carelessly falling
about his face, and over his shoulders. The name of this chief is Ee-shah-
ko-nee (the bow and quiver). The only ornaments to be seen about him
were a couple of beautiful shells worn in his ears, and a boar's tusk attached
to his neck, and worn on his breast.

For several days after we arrived at this place, there was a huge mass
of flesh (plate 169), Ta-wah-que-nah (the mountain of rocks), who was
put forward as head chief of the tribe ; and all honours were being paid to
him by the regiment of dragoons, until the above-mentioned chief arrived
from the country, where it seems he was leading a war-party ; and had been
sent for, no doubt, on the occasion. When he arrived, this huge monster,
who is the largest and fattest Indian I ever saw, stepped quite into the back-
ground, giving way to this admitted chief, who seemed to have the confidence
and respect of the whole tribe.

This enormous man, whose flesh would undoubtedly weigh three hundred
pounds or more, took the most wonderful strides in the exercise of his tem-
porary authority; which, in all probability, he was lawfully exercising in the
absence of his superior, as second chief of the tribe.

A perfect personation of Jack Falstaff, in size and in figure, with an African
face, and a beard on his chin of two or three inches in length. His name,
he tells me, he got from having conducted a large, party of Camanchees
through a secret and subterraneous passage, entirely through the mountain
of granite rocks, which lies back of their village ; thereby saving their lives
from their more powerful enemy, who had " cornered them up" in such a
way, that there was no other possible mode for their escape. The mountain
under which he conducted them, is called Ta-wah-que-nah (the mountain
of rocks), and from this he has received his name, which would certainly have
been far more appropriate if it had been a mountain of flesh.

Corpulency is a thing exceedingly rare to be found in any of the tribes,
amongst the men, owing, probably, to the exposed and active sort of lives
they lead ; and that in the absence of all the spices of life, many of which
have their effect in producing this disgusting, as well as unhandy and awk-
ward extravagance in civilized society.

Ish-a-ro-yeh (he who carries a wolf, plate 170) ; and Is-sa-wah-tam-ah
(the wolf tied with hair, plate 171) ; are also chiefs of some standing in the
tribe, and evidently men of great influence, as they were put forward by the
head chiefs, for their likenesses to be painted in turn, after their own. The
first of the two seemed to be the leader of the war- party which we met, and
of which I have spoken ; and in escorting us to their village, this man took
the lead and piloted us the whole way, in consequence of which Colonel
Dodge presented him a very fine gun.

His-oo-san-ches (the Spaniard, plate 172), a gallant little fellow, is
represented to us as one of the leading warriors of the tribe ; and no doubt
is one of the most extraordinary men at present living in these regions.

68

He is half Spanish, and being a half-bieed, for whom they generally have
the most contemptuous feelings, he has been all his life thrown into the
front of battle and danger ; at which posts he has signalized himself, and
commanded the highest admiration and respect of the tribe, for his daring
and adventurous career. This is the man of whom I have before spoken,
who dashed out so boldly from the war-party, and came to us with the
white flag raised on the point of his lance, and of whom I have made a
sketch in plate 157. I have here represented him as he stood for me, with
his shield on his arm, with his quiver slung, and his lance of fourteen feet
in length in his right hand. This extraordinary little man, whose figure was
light, seemed to be all bone and muscle, and exhibited immense power, by
the curve of the bones in his legs and his arms. We had many exhibitions
of his extraordinary strength, as well as agility ; and of his gentlemanly
politeness and friendship, we had as frequent evidences. As an instance of
this, I will recite an occurrence which took place but a few days since, when
we were moving our encampment to a more desirable ground on another side
of their village. We had a deep and powerful stream to ford, when we had
several men who were sick, and obliged to be carried on litters. My friend
" Joe" and I came up in the rear of the regiment, where the litters with the
sick were passing, and we found this little fellow up to his chin in the
muddy water, wading and carrying one end of each litter on his head, as
they were in turn, passed over. After they had all passed, this gallant little
fellow beckoned to me to dismount, and take a seat on his shoulders, which
I declined ; >preferring to stick to my horse's back, which I did, as he took
it by the bridlfe and conducted it through the shallowest ford. When I was
across, I took from my belt a handsome knife and presented it to him, which
seemed to please him very much.

Besides the above-named chiefs and warriors, I painted the portrait of
Kofs-o-ko-ro-ko {the hair of the bull's neck); and H^aA-wee (the beaver) ;
the first, a chief, and the second, a warrior of terrible aspect, and also of
considerable distinction. These and many other paintings, as well as manu-
factures from this tribe,. may be always seen in my Museum, if I have the
good luck to get them safe home from this wild and rembte region.

From what I have already seen of the Camanchees, I am fully convinced
that they are a numerous and very powerful tribe, and quite equal in num-
bers and prowess, to the accounts generally given of them.

It is entirely impossible at present to make a correct estimate of their
numbers ; but taking their own account of villages they point to in such
numbers, South of the banks of the Red River, as well as those that lie
farther West, and undoubtedly North of its banks, they must be a very
numerous tribe ; and I think I am able to say, from estimates that these
chiefs have made me, that they number some 30 or 40,000 — being able to
shew some 6 or 7000 warriors, well-mounted and well-armed. This estimate
I offer not as conclusive, for so little is as yet known of these people, that

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69

no estimate can be implicitly relied upon other than that, which, in general
terms, pronounces them to be a very numerous and warlike tribe

We shall learn much more of them before we get out of their country ;
and I trust that it will yet be in my power to give something like a fair
census of them before we have done with them.

They speak much of their allies and friends, the Pawnee Picts, living to
the West some three or four days* march, whom we are going to visit in a
few days, and afterwards return to this village, and then " bend our course"
homeward, or, in other words, back to Fort Gibson. Besides the Pawnee
Picts, there are the Kiowas and Wicos ; small tribes that live in the same
vicinity, and also in the same alliance, whom we shall probably see on our
march. Every preparation is now making to be off in a few days — and I
shall omit further remarks on the Camanchees, until we return, when I shall
probably have much more to relate of them and their customs. So many
of the men and officers are getting sick, that the little command will be
very much crippled, from the necessity we shall be under, of leavmg about
thirty sick, and about an equal number of well to take care of and protect
them ; for which purpose, we are constructing a fort, with a sort of breast-
work of timbers and bushes, which will be ready in a day or two ; and
tne sound part of the command prepared to start with several Camancbee
leaders, who have agreed to pilot the way.

LETTER— No. 43.

GREAT CAMANCHEE VILLAGE.

The above Letter it will be seen, was written sometime ago, and when all
hands (save those who were too sick) were on the start for the Pawnee
village. Amongst those exceptions was I, before the hour of starting
arrived ; and as the dragoons have made their visit there and returned in a
most jaded condition, and I have again got well enough to write, I will
render some account of the excursion, which is from the pen and the pencil
of my friend Joe, who went with them and took my sketch and note-books
in his pocket.

" We were four days travelling over a beautiful country, most of the way
prairie, and generally along near the base of a stupendous range of moun-
tains of reddish granite, in many places piled up to an immense height with-
out tree or shrubbery on them ; looking as if they had actually dropped from
the clouds in such a confused mass, and all lay where they had fallen.
Such we found the mountains enclosing the Pawnee village, on the bank of
Red River, about ninety miles from the Camanchee town. The dragoon
regiment was drawn up within half a mile or so of this village, and encamped
in a square, where we remained three days. We found here a very nume-
rous village, containing some five or six hundred wigwams, all made of long
prairie grass, thatched over poles which are fastened in the ground and bent
in at the top ; giving to them, in distance, the appearance of straw beehives
as in PLATE 173, which is an accurate view of it, shewing the Red River in
front, and the " mountains of rocks" behind it.

" To our very great surprise, we have found these people cultivating quite
extensive fields of corn (maize), pumpkins, melons, beans and squashes ; so,
with these aids, and an abundant supply of bufFalo meat, they may be said
to be living very well.

" The next day after our arrival here. Colonel Dodge opened a council with
the chiefs, in the chief's lodge, where he had the most of his officers around
him. He first explained to them the friendly views with which he came to
see them ; and of the wish of our Government to establish a lasting peace
with them, which they seemed at once to appreciate and highly to estimate.

" The head chief of the tribe is a very old man, and he several times replied

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to Colonel Dodge in a verj eloquent manner ; assuring him of the friendly
feelings of his chiefs and v/arriors towards the pale faces, in the direction
from whence we came.

" After Colonel Dodge had explained in general terms, the objects of our
visit, he told them that he should expect from them some account of the foul
murder of Judge Martin and his family on the False Washita, which had
been perpetrated but a few weeks before, and which the Camanchees had
told us was done by the Pawnee Picts. The Colonel told them, also, that
he learned from the Camanchees, that they had the little boy, the son of the
murdered gentleman, in their possession ; and that he should expect them
to deliver him up, as an indispensable condition of the friendly arrangement
that was now making. They positively denied the fact, and all knowledge
of it ; firmly assuring us that they knew nothing of the murder, or of the
boy. The demand was repeatedly made, and as often denied ; until at
length a negro-man was discovered, who was living with the Pawnees, who
spoke good English ; and coming into the council-house, gave information
that such a boy had recently been brought into their village, and was now a
prisoner amongst them. This excited great surprise and indignation in the
council, and Colonel Dodge then informed the chiefs that the council would
rest here ; and certainly nothing further of a peaceable nature would tran-
spire until the boy was brought in. In this alarming dilemma, all remained
ID gloomy silence for awhile; when Colonel Dodge further informed the
chiefs, that as an evidence of his friendly intentions towards them, he had,
on starting, purchased at a very great price, from their enemies the Osages,
two Pawnee (and one Kiowa) girls ; which had been held by them for some
years as prisoners, and which he had brought the whole way home, and had
here ready to be delivered to their friends and relations ; but whom he cer-
tainly would never show, until the little boy was produced. He also made
another demand, which was for the restoration of an United States ranger,
by the name of Abbe, who had been captured by them during the summer
before. They acknowledged the seizure of this man, and all solemnly de-
clared that he had been taken by a party of the Camanchees, over whom they
had no controul, and carried beyond the Red River into the Mexican pro-
vinces, where he was put to death. They held a long consultation about the
boy, and seeing their plans defeated by the evidence of the negro ; and also
being convinced of the friendly disposition of the Colonel, by bringing home
their prisoners from the Osages, they sent out and had the boy brought in,
from the middle of a corn-field, where he had been secreted. He is a smart
and very intelligent boy of nine years of age, and when he came in, he was
entirely naked, as they keep their own boys of that age. There was a great
excitement in the council when the little fellow was brought in ; and as he
passed amongst them, he looked around and exclaimed with some surprise,
"What! are there white men here?" to which Colonel Dodge replied, and asked
his name ; and he promptly answered, " my name is Matthew Wright Martin."

72

He was then received into Colonel Dodge's arms ; and an order was im-
mediately given for the Pawnee and Kiowa girls to be brought forward ; they
were in a few minutes brought into the council-house, when they were at
once recognized by their friends and relatives, who embraced them with the
most extravagant expressions of joy and satisfaction. The heart of the
venerable old chief was melted at this evidence of white man's friendship,
and he rose upon his feet, and taking Colonel Dodge in his arms, and placing
his left cheek against the left cheek of the Colonel, held him for some
minutes without saying a word, whilst tears were flowing from his eyes. He
then embraced each officer in turn, in the same silent and affectionate man-
ner ; which form took half an hour or more, before it was. completed.*

" From this moment the council, which before had been a very grave and
uncertain one, took a pleasing and friendly turn. And this excellent old
man ordered the women to supply the dragoons with something to eat, as
they were hungry.

" The little encampment, which heretofore was in a woeful condition, having
eaten up their last rations twelve hours before, were now gladdened by the
approach of a number of women, who brought their " back loads" of dried
buffalo meat and green corn, and threw it down amongst them. This seemed
almost like a providential deliverance, for the country between here and the
Camanchees, was entirely destitute of game, and our last provisions were
consumed.

" The council thus proceeded successfully and pleasantly for several days,
whilst the warriors of theKiowas and Wicos, two adjoining and friendly tribes
living further to the West, were arriving ; and also a great many from other
bands of the Camanchees, who had heard of our arrival ; until two thousand
or more of these wild and fearless-looking fellows were assembled, and all,
from their horses' backs, with weapons in hand, vere looking into our pitiful
little encampment, of two hundred men, all in a state of dependence and
almost literal starvation ; and at the same time nearly one half the number too

sick to have made a successful resistance if we were to have been attacked."

** * * * * * * * * «

The command returned to this village after an absence of fifteen days, in
a fatigued and destitute condition, with scarcely anything to eat, or chance
of getting anything here ; in consequence of which, Colonel Dodge almost
instantly ordered preparations to be made for a move to the head of the
Canadian river, a distance of an hundred or more miles, where the Indians
represented to us there would be found immense herds of buffaloes ; a place
where we could get enough to eat, and by lying by awhile, could restore
the sick, who are now occupying a great number of litters. Some days have

* The little boy of whom I have spoken, was brought in the whole distance to Fort Gibson,
in the arms of the dragoons, who took turns in carrying him ; and after the command
arrived there, he was transmitted to the Red River, by an officer, who had the enviable
satisfaction of delivering him into the arms of his disconsolate and half-distracted mother.

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179

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73

elapsed, however, and we are not quite ready for the start yet. And durhig
that time, continual parties of the Pawnee Picts and Kioways have come up ;
and also Camanchees, from other villages, to get a look at us, and many of
them are volunteering to go in with us to the frontier.

The world who know me, will see that I can scarcelv be idle under such
circumstances as these, where so many subjects for my brush and my pen
are gathering about me.

The Pawnee Picts, Kioways, and Wicos are the subjects that I am most
closely scanning at this moment, and I have materials enough around me.

The Pawnee Picts are undoubtedly a numerous and powerful tribe, occu-
pying, with the Kioways and Wicos, the whole country on the head waters
of the Red River, and quite into and through the southern part of the Rocky
Mountains, The old chief told me by signs, enumerating with his hands and
fingers, that they had altogether three thousand warriors ; which if true, esti-
mating according to the usual rule, one warrior to four, would make the
whole number about twelve thousand ; and, allowing a fair per-centage for
boasting or bragging, of which they are generally a little guilty in such cases,
there would be at a fair calculation from eight to ten thousand. These then,
in an established alliance with the great tribe of Camanchees, hunting and
feasting together, and ready to join in common defence of their country
become a very formidable enemy when attacked on their own ground.

The name of the Pawnee Picts, we find to be in their own language, Tow-
ee-ahge, the meaning of which 1 have not yet learned. 1 have ascertained also,
that these people are in noway related to the Pawnees of the Platte, who reside
a thousand miles or more North of them, and know them only as enemies.
There is no family or tribal resemblance ; nor any in their language or cus-
toms. The Pawnees of the Platte shave the head, and the Pawnee Picts
abominate the custom ; allowing their hair to grow like the Camanchees and
other tribes.

The old chief of the Pawnee Picts, of whom I have before spoken, and
whose name is We-ta-ra-sha-ro (plate 174), is undoubtedly a very excel-
lent and kind-hearted old man, of ninety or more years of age, and has con-
sented to accompany us, with a large party of his people, to Fort Gibson ;
where Colonel Dodge has promised to return him liberal presents from the
Government, for the friendship he has evinced on the present occasion.

The second chief of this tribe, Sky-se-ro-ka (plate 175), we found to be
a remarkably clever man, and much approved and valued in his tribe.

The Pawnee Picts, as well as the Camanchees, are generally a very clumsy
and ordinary looking set of men, when on their feet ; but being fine horse-
men, are equally improved in appearance as soon as they mount upon their
horses' backs.

Amongst the women of this tribe, there were many that were exceedingly
pretty in feature and in form ; and also in expression, though their skins
are very dark. The dress of the men in thi'* tribe, as amongst the Caman-

VOL. II, L

74

chees, consists generally in leggings of dressed skins, and moccasins ; with a
flap or breech clout, made also of dressed skins or furs, and often very
beautifully ornamented with shells, &c. Above the waist they seldom wear
any drapery, owing to the warmth of the climate, which will rarely justify
it ; and their heads are generally imcovered with a head-dress, like the
Northern tribes who live in a colder climate, and actually require them for
comfort.

The women of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts, are always decently
and comfortably clad, being covered generally with a gown or slip, that
reaches from the chin quite down to the ancles, made of deer or elk skins ;
often garnished very prettily, and ornamented with long fringes of elk's
teeth, which are fastened on them in rows, and more highly valued than any
other ornament they can put upon them.

In PLATES 176 and 177, I have given the portraits of two Pawnee girls,
Kah-kee-tsee (the thighs), and She-de-a (wild sage), the two Pawnee women
who had been held as prisoners by the Osages, and purchased by the Indian
Commissioner, the Reverend Mr. Schemmerhom, and brought home to their
own people, and dehvered up in the Pawnee town, in the manner that I have
just described.

The Kioways are a much finer looking race of men, than either the Ca-
manchees or Pawnees — are tall and erect, with an easy and graceful gait — >
with long hair, cultivated oftentimes so as to reach nearly to the ground.
They have generally the fine and Roman outline of head, that is so frequently
found at the North, — and decidedly distinct from that of the Camanchees
and Pawnee Picts. These men speak a language distinct from both of the
others; and in fact, the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts — and Kioways, and
Wicos, are all so distinctly different in their languages, as to appear in that
respect as total strangers to each other.*

The head chief of the Kioways, whose name is Teh-toot-sah (plate 178),
we found to be a very gentlemanly and high minded man, who treated the
dragoons and officers with great kindness while in his country. His long
hair, which was put up in several large clubs, and ornamented with a great
many silver broaches, extended quite down to his knees. This distinguished
man, as well as several others of his tribe, have agreed to join us on the march
to Fort Gibson ; so I shall have much of their company yet, and probably
much more to say of them at a future period. Bon-son-gee (the new fire,
PLATE 179) is another chief of this tribe, and called a very good man ; the
principal ornaments which he carried on his person were a boar's tusk and
his war-whistle, which were hanging on his breast.

• I have several times, in former parts of this work, spoken of the great number of dif-
ferent Indian languages which I have visited, and given my opinion, as to the dissimilarity
and distinctness of their character. And would refer the reader for further information
on this subject, as well as for a vocabulary of several languages, to the Appendix to this
Volume, letter B.

75

Quay-ham-kay (the stone shell, plate 180), is another fair specimen of
the warriors of this tribe ; and, if I mistake not, somewhat allied to the mys-
teries and arcana of the healing art, from the close company he keeps with
my friend Dr. Findley, who is surgeon to the regiment, and by whom I have
been employed to make a copy of my portrait of this distinguished personage.

In PLATE 181, Wun-pan-to-mee (the white weasel), a girl ; and Tunk-
aht-oh-ye (the thunderer), a boy ; who are brother and sister, are two Kio-
ways who were purchased from the Osages, to be taken to their tribe by the
dragoons. The girl was taken the whole distance with us, on horseback, to the
Pawnee village, and there delivered to her friends, as I have before mentioned;
and the fine little boy was killed at the Fur Trader's house on the banks of
the Verdigris, near Fort Gibson, the day after I painted his portrait, and
only a few days before he was to have started with us on the march. He
was a beautiful boy of nine or ten years of age, and was killed by a ram,
which struck him in the abdomen, and knocking him against a fence, killed
him instantly.

Kots-a-to-ah (the smoked shield, plate 182), is another of the extra-
ordinary men of this tribe, near seven feet in stature, and distinguished, not
only as one of the greatest warriors, but the swiftest on foot, in the nation.
This man, it is said, runs down a buffalo on foot, and slays it with his knife
or his lance, as he runs by its side !

In PLATE 183, is the portrait of Ush-ee-kitz (he who fights with a feather)
head chief of the Wi-co tribe, a very polite and polished Indian, in his man-
ners, and remarkable for his mode of embracing the officers and others in
council.

In the different talks and councils that we have had with these people,
this man has been a conspicuous speaker ; and always, at the end of his
speeches, has been in the habit of stepping forward and embracing friends
and foes, all that were about him, taking each one in turn, closely and affec-
tionately in his arms, with his left cheek against theirs, and thus holding them
tightly for several minutes.

All the above chiefs and braves, and many others, forming a very pic-
turesque cavalcade, will move off with us in a day or two, on our way back
to Fort Gibson, where it is to be hoped we may arrive more happy thaw we
are in our present jaded and sickly condition.

76

LETTER— No. 44.

CAMP CANADIAN, TEXAS.

Six days of severe travelling have brought us from the Camanchee vil-
lage to the North bank of the Canadian, where we are snugly encamped on
a beautiful plain, and in the midst of countless numbers of buflPaloes ; and
halting a few days to recruit our horses and men, and dry meat to last us
the remainder of our journey-

The plains around this, for many miles, seem actually speckled in dis-
tance, and in every direction, with herds of grazing buffaloes ; and for
several days, the officers and men have been indulged in a general licence
to gratify their sporting propensities ; and a scene of bustle and cruel
slaughter it has been, to be sure ! From morning till night, the camp has
been daily almost deserted ; the men have dispersed in little squads in all
directions, and are dealing death to these poor creatures to a most cruel
and wanton extent, merely for the pleasure of destroying, generally without
stopping to cut out the meat. During yesterday and this day, several hun-
dreds have undoubtedly been killed, and not so much as the flesh of half
a dozen used. Such immense swarms of them are spread over this tract of
country ; and so divided and terrified have they become, finding their ene-
mies in all directions where they run, that the poor beasts seem completely
bewildered — running here and there, and as often as otherwise, come singly
advancing to the horsemen, as if to join them for their company, and are
easily shot down. In the turmoil and confusion, when their assailants
have been pushing them forward, they have galloped through our encamp-
ment, jumping over our fires, upsetting pots and kettles, driving horses
from their fastenings, and throwing the whole encampment into the greatest
instant consternation and alarm. The hunting fever will be satiated in a
few days amongst the young men, who are well enough to take parts in the
chase ; and the bilious fever, it is to be hoped, will be abated in a short
time, amongst those who are invalid, and meat enough will be dried to last
us to Fort Gibson, when we shall be on the march again, and wending
our way towards that garrison.

Many are now sick and unable to ride, and are carried on litters between
two horses. Nearly every tent belonging to the officers has been converted to
hospitals for the sick ; and sighs and groaning are heard in all directions.

From the Camanchee village to this place, the country has been entirely
prairie ; and most of the way high and dry ground, without water, for which
Ave sometimes suffered very much. From day to day we have dragged along
exposed to the hot and burning rays of the sun, without a cloud to relieve
its intensity, or a bush to shade us, or anything to cast a shadow, ex-
cept the bodies of our horses. The grass for a great part of the way, was
very much dried up, scarcely affording a bite for our horses ; and some-
times for the distance of many miles, the only water we could find, was in
stagnant pools, lying on the highest ground, in which the buffaloes have
been lying and wallowing like hogs in a mud-puddle. We frequently came
to these dirty lavers, from which we drove the herds of wallowing buffaloes,
and into which our poor and almost dying horses, irresistibly ran and
plunged their noses, sucking up the dirty and poisonous draught, until, in
some instances, they fell dead in their tracks — the men also (and oftentimes
amongst the number, the writer of these lines) sprang from their horses, and
laded up and drank to almost fatal excess, the disgusting and tepid draught,
and with it filled their canteens, which were slung to their sides, and from
which they were sucking the bilious contents during the day.

In our march we found many deep ravines, in the bottoms of which there
were the marks of wild and powerful streams ; but in this season of drought
they were all dried up, except an occasional one, where we found them
dashing along in the coolest and clearest manner, and on trial, to our great
agony, so salt that even our horses could not drink from them ; so we
had occasionally the tantalizing pleasure of hearing the roar of, and looking
into, the clearest and most sparkling streams ; and after that the dire neces-
sity of drinking from stagnant pools which lay from month to month
exposed to the rays of the sun, till their waters become so poisonous and
heavy, from the loss of their vital principle, that they are neither diminished
by absorption, or taken into the atmosphere by evaporation.

This poisonous and indigestible water, with the intense rays of the sun in
the hottest part of the summer, is the cause of the unexampled sickness of
the horses and men. Both appear to be suffering and dying with the same
disease, a slow and distressing bilious fever, which seems to terminate in a
most frightful and fatal affection of the liver.

In these several cruel days' march, I have suffered severely, having had
all the time (and having yet) a distracting fever on me. My real friend,
Joe, has constantly rode by my side, dismounting and filling my canteen for
me, and picking up minerals or fossils, which my jaundiced eyes were able
to discover as we were passing over them ; or doing other kind offices for
me, when I v/as too weak to mount my horse without aid. During this
march over these dry and parched plains, we picked up many curious things
of the fossil and mineral kind, and besides them a number of the horned
frogs. In our portmanteaux we had a number of tin boxes in which we had
carried Seidlitz powders, in which we caged a number of them safely, in

78

hopes to carry them home ahve. Several remarkable specimens my friend
Joe has secured of these, with the horns of half and three-fourths of an inch
in length, and very sharp at the points.

These curious subjects have so often fallen under my eye while on the
Upper Missouri, that with me, they have lost their novelty in a great degree;
but they have amused and astonished my friend Chad wick so much, that
he declares he will take every one he can pick up, and make a sensation
with them when ne gets home. In this way Joe's fancy for horned frogs
has grown into a sort oi frog -mania, and his eyes are strained all day, and
gazing amongst the grass and pebbles as he rides along, for his precious
little prizes, which he occasionally picks up and consigns to his pockets.*

On one of these hard day's march, and just at night, whilst we were
looking out for water, and a suitable place to encamp, Joe and I galloped
off a mile or two to the right of the regiment, to a point of timber, to look
for water, where we found a small and sunken stagnant pool ; and as our
horses plunged their feet into it to drink, we saw to our great surprise, a
number of frogs hopping across its surface, as our horses started them from
the shore ! Several of them stopped in the middle of the pool, sitting
quite " high and dry" on the surface of the water ; and when we approached
them nearer, or jostled them, they made a leap into the air, and coming
down head foremost — went under the water and secreted themselves at the
bottom. Here was a subject for Joe, in his own line ! frogs with horns, and
frogs with webbed feet, that could hop about, and sit upon, the surface of
the water ! We rode around the pool and drove a number of them into it,
and fearing that it would be useless to try to get one of them that evening ;
we rode back to the encampment, exulting very much in the curious dis-
covery we had made for the naturalists ; and by relating to some of the
officers what we had seen, got excessively laughed at for our wonderful
discovery ! Nevertheless, Joe and I could not disbelieve what we had seen
so distinctly " with our own eyes ;" and we took to ourselves (or in other
words, I acquiesced in Joe's taking to himself, as it was so peculiarly in
his line) the most unequivocal satisfaction in the curious and undoubted
discovery of this new variety ; and we made our arrangements to ride back
to the spot before " bugle call" in the morning ; and by a thorough effort, to
obtain a specimen or two of the web-footed frogs for Joe's pocket, to be by
him introduced to the consideration of the knowing ones in the East. Well,
our horses were saddled at an early hour, and Joe and I were soon on the
spot — and he with a handkerchief at the end of a little pole, with which he
had made a sort of scoop-net, soon dipped one up as it was hopping along
on the surface of the water, and making unsuccessful efforts to dive through
its surface. On examining its feet, we found, to our very great surprise,

* Several months after this, when I visited my friend Joe's room in St. Louis, he
shewed me his horned frogs in their little tin boxes, in good flesh and good condition,
where they had existed several moatLs, without food of any kind.

79

that we had taken a great deal of pains to entrap an old and familiar
little acquaintance of our boyhood ; but, somewhat like ourselves, unfortu-
nately, from dire necessity, driven to a loathsome pool, where the water was
so foul and slimy, that it could hop and dance about its surface with dry
feet ; and where it oftentimes found difficulty in diving through the sur-
face to hide itself at the bottom.

I laughed a great deal at poor Joe's most cruel expense, and we amused
ourselves a few minutes about this filthy and curious pool, and rode back
to the encampment. We found by taking the water up in the hollow of the
hand, and dipping the finger in it, and drawing it over the side, thus con-
ducting a little of it out ; it was so slimy that the whole would run over the
side of the hand in a moment !

We were joked and teased a great deal about our web-footed frogs ; and
after this, poor Joe has had repeatedly to take out and exhibit his little
pets in his pockets, to convince our travelling companions that frogs some-
times actually have horns.

Since writing the above, an express has arrived from the encampment,
which we left at the mouth of False Washita, with the melancholy tidings
of the death of General Leavenworth, Lieutenant M'Clure, and ten or
fifteen of the men left at that place ! This has cast a gloom over our little
encampment here, and seems to be received as a fatal foreboding by those
who are sick with the same disease ; and many of them, poor fellows, with
scarce a hope left now for their recovery.

It seems that the General had moved on our trail a few days after we
left the Washita, to the " Cross Timbers," a distance of fifty or sixty miles,
where his disease at last terminated his existence ; and I am inclined to
think, as I before mentioned, in consequence of the injury he sustained in a
fall from his horse when running a buffalo calf. My reason for believing
this, is, that I rode and ate with him every day after the hour of his fall ;
and from that moment I was quite sure that I saw a different expression in
his face, from that which he naturally wore ; and when riding by the side of
him two or three days after his fall, I observed to him, " General, you have
a very bad cough" — " Yes," he replied, " I have killed myself in running
that devilish calf ; and it was a very lucky thing, Catlin, that you painted
the portrait of me before we started, for it is all that my dear wife will ever
see of me."

We shall be on the move again in a few days ; and I plainly see that I
shall be upon a litter, unless my horrid fever leaves me, which is daily taking
away my strength, and almost, at times, my senses. Adieu !

80

LETTER— No. 45.

FORT GIBSON, ARKANSAS.

The last Letter was written from my tent, and out upon the wild prairies,
when I was shaken and terrified by a burning fever, with home and my dear
wife and little one, two thousand miles ahead of me, whom I was despair
ing of ever embracing again. I am now scarcely better off, except that I
am in comfortable quarters, with kind attendance, and friends about me.
I am yet sick and very feeble, having been for several weeks upon my back
since I was brought in from the prairies. I am slowly recovering, and for
the first time since I wrote from the Canadian, able to use my pen or my
brush.

We drew off from that slaughtering ground a few days after my last
Letter was written, with a great number sick, carried upon litters — with
horses giving out and dying by the way, which much impeded our progress
over the long and tedious route that laid between us and Fort Gibson. Fii
teen days, however, of constant toil and fatigue brought us here, but in
most crippled condition. Many of the sick were left by the way with atten-
dants to take care of them, others were buried from their litters on which
they breathed their last while travelling, and many others were brought in,
to this place, merely to die and get the privilege of a decent burial.

Since the very day of our start into that country, the men have been con-
stantly falling sick, and on their return, of those who are alive, there are not
well ones enough to take care of the sick. Many are yet left out upon the
prairies, and of those that have been brought in, and quartered in the hospital,
with the soldiers of the infantry regiment stationed here, four or five are
buried daily ; and as an equal number from the 9th regiment are falling by
the same disease, I have the mournful sound of " Roslin Castle" with
muffled drums, passing six or eight times a-day under my window, to the
burying-ground ; which is but a little distance in front of my room, where I
can lay in my bed and see every poor fellow lowered down into his silent
and peaceful habitation. During the day before yesterday, no less than eight
solemn processions visited that insatiable ground, and amongst them was
carried the corpse of my intimate and much-loved friend Lieutenant West,
who was aid-de-camp to General Leavenworth, on this disastrous campaign,
and who has left in this place, a worthy and distracted widow, with her little

81

ones to mourn for his untimely end. On the same day was buried also the
Prussian Botanist, a most excellent and scientific gentleman, who had ob-
tained an order from the Secretary at War to accompany the expedition for
scientific purposes. He had at St. Louis, purchased a very comfortable
dearborn waggon, and a snug span of little horses to convey himself and his
servant with his collection of plants, over the prairies. In this he travelled
in company with the regiment from St. Louis to Fort Gibson some five or
six hundred miles and from that to the False Washita, and the Cross Tim-
bers and back again. In this Tour he had made an immense, and no doubt,
very valuable collection of plants, and at this place had been for some weeks
indefatigably engaged in changing and drying them, and at last, fell a
victim to the disease of the country, which seemed to have made an easy
conquest of him, from the very feeble and enervated state he was evidently
in, that of pulmonary consumption. This fine, gentlemanly and urbane,
excellent man, to whom I became very much attached, was lodged in a room
adjoining to mine, where he died, as he had lived, peaceably and smiling, and
that when nobody knewthat hislife was in immediate danger. The surgeon who
was attending me, (Dr. Wright,) was sitting on my bed-side in his morning-
call at my room, when a negro boy, who alone had been left in the room
with him, came into my apartment and said Mr. Beyrich was dying — we in-
stantly stepped into his room and found him, not in the agonies of death, but
quietly breathing his last, without a word or a struggle, as he had laid himself
upon his bed with his clothes and his boots on. In this way perished this
worthy man, who had no one here of kindred friends to drop tears for him ;
and on the day previous to his misfortune, died also, and much in the same
way, his devoted and faithful servant, a young man, a native of Germany.
■ Their bodies were buried by the side of each other, and a general feeling of
deep grief was manifested by the officers and citizens of the post, in the
respect that was paid to their remains in the appropriate and decent com-
mittal of them to the grave.

After leaving the head waters of the Canadian, my illness contmually in-
creased, and losing strength every day, I soon got so reduced that I was neces-
sarily lifted on to and off from, my horse ; and at last, so that I could not ride
at all. I was then put into a baggage-waggon which was going back empty,
except with several soldiers sick, and in this condition rode eight days, most
of the time in a delirious state, lying on the hard planks of the waggon, and
made still harder by the jarring and jolting, until the skin from my elbows and
knees was literally worn through, and I almost " worn out;' when we at
length reached this post, and I was taken to abed, in comfortable quarters,
where I have had the skilful attendance of my friend and old schoolmate
Dr. Wright, under whose hands, thank God, I have been restored, and ar»
now daily recovering my flesh and usual strength.

The experiment has thus been made, of sending an army of men from the
North, into this Southern and warm climate, in the hottest months of the
VOL. ir. M

82

year, of July and August ; and from this sad experiment I am sure a secret
will be learned that will be of value on future occasions.

Of the 450 fine fellows who started from this place four months since,
about one-third have already died, and I believe many more there are whose
fates are sealed, and will yet fall victims to the deadly diseases contracted
in that fatal country. About this post it seems to be almost equally un-
healthy, and generally so during this season, all over this region, which ia
probably owing to an unusual drought which has been visited on the country,
and unknown heretofore to the oldest inhabitants.

Since we came in from the prairies, and the sickness has a little abated,
we have had a bustling time with the Indians at this place. Colonel Dodge
sent runners to the chiefs of all the contiguous tribes of Indians, with an
invitation to meet the Pawnees, &c. in council, at this place. Seven or
eight tribes flocked to us, in great numbers on the first day of the month,
when the council commenced ; it continued for several days, and gave these
semi-civilized sons of the forest a fair opportunity of shaking the hands of
their wild and untamed red brethren of the West — of embracing them in
their arms, with expressions of friendship, and of smoking the calumet to-
gether, as the solemn pledge of lasting peace and friendship.

Colonel Dodge, Major Armstrong (the Indian agent), and General Stokes
(the Indian commissioner), presided at this council, and I cannot name a
scene more interesting and entertaining than it was ; where, for several days in
succession, free vent was given to the feelings of men civilized, half-civilized ,
atid wild ; where the three stages of man were fearlessly asserting their rights»
their happiness, and friendship for each other. The vain orations of the half-
polished (and half-breed) Cherokees and Choctaws, with all their finery and art,
found their match in the brief and jarring gutturals of the wild and naked man.

After the council had adjourned, and the fumes of the peace-making
calumet had vanished away, and Colonel Dodge had made them additional
presents, they soon made preparations for their departure, and on the next
day started, with an escort of dragoons, for their own country. This move-
ment is much to be regretted ; for it would have been exceedingly gratifying
to the people of the East to have seen so wild a group, and it would have
been of great service to them to have visited Washington — a journey, though,
which they could not be prevailed upon to make.

We brought with us to this place, three of the principal chiefs of the
Pawnees, fifteen Kioways, one Camanchee, and one Wico chief. The group
was undoubtedly one of the most interesting that ever visited our frontier ;
and, I have taken the utmost pains in painting the portraits of all of them,
as well as seven of the Camanchee chiefs, who came part of the way with
us, and turned back. These portraits, together with other paintings which
I have made, descriptive of their manners and customs — views of their vil-
lages— landscapes of the country, &c., will soon be laid before the amateurs
of the East, and, I trust, will be found to be very interesting.

83

Although the achievemt:it has been a handsome one, of bringing these
unknown people to an acquaintance, and a general peace ; and at first sight
would appear to be of great benefit to them — yet I have my strong doubts,
whether it will better their condition, unless with the exercised aid of the
strong arm of Government, they can be protected in the rights which by
nature, they are entitled to.

There is already in this place a company of eighty men fitted out, who
are to start to-morrow, to overtake these Indians a few miles from this place,
and accompany them home, with a large stock of goods, with traps for
catching beavers, &c., calculating to build a trading-house amongst them,
where they will amass, at once, an immense fortune, being the first traders
and trappers that have ever been in that part of the country.

I have travelled too much among Indian tribes, and seen too much, not
to know the evil consequences of such a system. Goods are sold at such
exorbitant prices, that the Indian gets a mere shadow for his peltries, &c.
The Indians see no white people but traders and sellers of whiskey ; and of
course, judge us all by them — they consequently hold us, and always will,
in contempt; as inferior to themselves, as they have reason to do — and they
neither fear nor respect us. When, on the contrary, if the Government
would promptly prohibit such establishments, and invite these Indians to our
frontier posts, they would bring in their furs, their robes, horses, mules, &c.,
to this place, where there is a good market for them all — where they would
get the full value of their property — where there are several stores of goods
— where there is an honourable competition, and where they would get four
or five times as much for their articles of trade, as they would get from a
trader in the village, out of the reach of comoetition, and out of sight of the
civilized vvorld.

At the same time, as they would be continually coming where they would
see good and polished society, they would be gradually adopting our modes
of living — introducing to their country our vegetables, our domestic animals,
poultry, &c., and at length, our arts and manufactures ; they would see
and estimate our military strength, and advantages, and would be led to
fear and respect us. In short, it would undoubtedly be the quickest and
surest way to a general acquaintance — to friendship and peace, and at last
to civilization. If there is a law in existence for such protection of the
Indian tribes, which may have been waived in the case of those nations
with which we have long traded, it is a great pity that it should not be
rigidly enforced in this new and important acquaintance, which we have
just made with thirty or forty thousand strangers to the civilized world ;
yet (as we have learned from their unaffected hospitality when in their
villuges), with hearts of human mould, susceptible of all the noble feelings
belonging to civilized man.

"This acquaintance has cost the United States a vast sum of money, as
well as the lives of several valuable and esteemed officers and more than

84

100 of the dragoons ; and for the honour of the American name, I think we
ought, in forming an acquaintance with these numerous tribes, to adopt and
enforce some different system from that which has been generally practiced
on and beyond our frontiers heretofore.

What the regiment of dragoons has suffered from sickness since they
started on their summer's campaign is unexampled in this country, and
almost incredible. — When we started from this place, ten or fifteen were
sent back the first day, too sick to proceed ; and so afterwards our numbers
were daily diminished, and at the distance of 200 miles from this place we
could muster, out of the whole regiment, but 250 men who were able to
proceed, with which little band, and that again reduced some sixty or
seventy by sickness, we pushed on, and accomplished all that was done.
The beautiful and pictured scenes which we passed over had an alluring
charm on their surface, but (as it would seem) a lurking poison within, that
spread a gloom about our encampment whenever we pitched it.

We sometimes rode day after day, without a tree to shade us from the
burning rays of a tropical sun, or a breath of wind to regale us or cheer our
hearts — and with mouths continually parched with thirst, we dipped our
drink from stagnant pools that were heated by the sun, and kept in fermen-
tation by the wallowing herds of buffaloes that resort to them. In this way
we dragged on, sometimes passing picturesque and broken country, with
fine springs and streams, affording us the luxury of a refreshing shade and
a cool draught of water.

Thus was dragged through and completed this most disastrous campaign ;
and to Colonel Dodge and Colonel Kearny, who so indefatigably led and
encouraged their men through it, too much praise cannot be awarded.

During my illness while I have been at this post, my friend Joe has been
almost constantly by my bedside ; evincing (as he did when we were creep-
ing over the vast prairies) the most sincere and intense anxiety for my reco-
very ; whilst he has administered, like a brother, every aid and every comfort
that lay in his power to bring. Such tried friendship as this, I shall ever
recollect ; and it will long hence and often, lead my mind back to retrace, at
least, the first part of our campaign, which was full pleasant ; and many of
its incidents have formed pleasing impressions on my memory, which I would
preserve to the end of my life.

When we started, we were fresh and ardent for the incidents that were
before us — our little packhorse carried our bedding and culinary articles ;
amongst which we had a coffee-pot and a frying-pan — coffee in good store,
and sugar — and wherever we spread our bear-skin, and kindled our fire in
the grass, we were sure to take by ourselves, a delightful repast, and a refresh-
ing sleep. During the march, as we were subject to no mihtary subordination,
we galloped about wherever we were disposed, popping away at whatever
we chose to spend ammunition upon — and running our noses into every wild
nook and crevice, as we saw fit. In this way we travelled happily, until

85

our coffee was gone, and our bread ; and even then we were happy upon
meat alone, until at last each one in his turn, like every other moving thing
about us, both man and beast, were vomiting and fainting, under the poisonous
influence of some latent enemy, that was floating in the air, and threatening
our destruction. Then came the " tug of war," and instead of catering for
our amusements, every one seemed desperately studying the means that were
to support him on his feet, and bring hirn safe home again to the bosoms of his
friends. In our start, our feelings were buoyant and light, and we had the
luxuries of life — the green prairies, spotted with wild flowers, and the clear
blue sky, were an earthly paradise to us, until fatigue and disease, and at
last despair, made them tiresome and painful to our jaundiced eyes.

On our way, and while we were in good heart, my friend Joe and I had
picked up many minerals and fossils of an interesting nature, which we put
in our portmanteaux and carried for weeks, with much pains, and some pain
also, until the time when our ardour cooled and our spirits lagged, and then
we discharged and threw them away ; and sometimes we came across speci-
mens again, still more wonderful, which we put in their place, and lugged
along till we were tired of them, and their weight, and we discharged them as
before ; so that from our eager desire to procure, we lugged many pounds
weight of stones, shells, &c. nearly the whole way, and were glad that
their mother Earth should receive them again at our hands, which was done
long before we got back.

One of the most curious places we met in all our route, was a mountain
ridge of fossil shells, from which a great number of the above-mentioned
specimens were taken. During our second day's march from the mouth of
the False Washita, we were astonished to find ourselves travelling over a bed
of clam and oyster shells, which were all in a complete state of petrifaction.
This ridge, which seemed to run from N. E. to S.W. was several hundred feet
high, and varying from a quarter to half a mile in breadth, seemed to be com-
posed of nothing but a concretion of shells, which, on the surface, exposed to
tlie weather for the depth of eight or ten inches, were entirely separated from
the cementing material which had held them together, and were lying on the
surface, sometimes for acres together, without a particle of soil or grass
upon them ; with the colour, shapes and appearance exactly, of the natural
shells, lying loosely together, into which our horses' feet were sinking at every
step, above their fetterlocks. These I consider the most extraordinary
petrifactions I ever beheld. In any way they could be seen, individually
or in the mass together, they seemed to be nothing but the pure shells
themselves, both in colour and in shape. In many instances we picked
them up entire, never having been opened ; and taking our knives out, and
splitting them open as we would an oyster, the fish was seen petrified in
perfect form, and by dipping it into water, it shewed all the colours and
freshness of an oyster just opened and laid on a plate to be eaten. Joe and
I had carefully tied up many of these, with which we felt quite sure we could

86

deceive our oysler-eating friends when we got back to tlie East ; yet, like
many other things we collected, they shared the fate that I have mentioned,
without our bringing home one of them, though we brought many of them
several hundreds of miles, and at last threw them away. This remarkable
ridge is in some parts covered with grass, but generally with mere scattering
bunches, for miles together, partially covering this compact mass of shells,,
forming (in my opinion) one of the greatest geological curiosities now to be
seen in this country, as it lies evidently some thousands of feet above the
level of the ocean, and seven or eight hundred miles from the nearest point
on the sea-coast.

In another section of the country, lying between Fort Gibson and the
Washita, we passed over a ridge for several miles, running parallel to this,
where much of the way there was no earth or grass under foot, but our horses
were travelling on a solid rock, which had on its surface a reddish or oxidized
appearance ; and on getting from my horse and striking it with my hatchet,
I found it to contain sixty or eighty per cent of solid iron, which produced a
ringing noise, and a rebounding of the hatchet, as if it were struck upon an
anvil.

In other parts, and farther West, between the Camanchee village and the
Canadian, we passed over a similar surface for many miles denuded, with
the exception of here and there little bunches of grass and wild sage, a level
and exposed surface of solid gypsum, of a dark grey colour ; and through it,
occasionally, as far as the eye could discover, to the East and the West
streaks of three and five inches wide of snowy gypsum, which was literally
as white as the drifted snow.

Of saltpetre and salt, there are also endless supplies ; so it will be seen
that the mineral resources of this wilderness country are fnexhaustible and
rich, and that the idle savage who never converts them to his use, must
soon yield them to the occupation of enlightened and cultivating man.

In the vicinity of this post there are an immense number of Indians, most
of whom have been removed to their present locations by the Government,
from their Eastern original positions, within a few years past ; and previous to
my starting with the dragoons, I had two months at my leisure in this
section of the country, which I used in travelling about with my canvass
and note-book, and visiting all of them in their villages! I have made many
paintings amongst them, and have a curious note-book to open at a future
day, for which the reader may be prepared. The tribes whom I thus visited,
and of whom my note-book will yet speak, are the Cherokees, Choctaws,
Creeks, Seminoles, Chickasaws, Quapaws, Senecas, Delawares, and several
others, whose customs are interesting, and whose history, from their proximity
to, and dealings with the civilized community, is one of great interest, and
some importance, to the enlightened world. Adieu.

87

LETTER— No. 46.

ALTON, ILLINOIS.

A TEW days after the date of the above Letter, I took leave of Fort Gtb-
son, and made a transit across the prairies to this place, a distance of 550
miles, which I have performed entirely alone, and had the satisfaction of
joining my wife, whom I have found in good health, in a family of my
esteemed friends, with whom she has been residing during my last year of
absence.

While at Fort Gibson, on my return from the Camanchees, I was
quartered for a month or two in a room with my fellow-companion in misery,
Captain Wharton, of the dragoons, who had come in from the prairies in a
condition very similar to mine, and laid in abed in the opposite corner of the
room ; where we laid for several weeks, like two grim ghosts, rolling our
glaring and staring eyeballs upon each other, when we were totally unable
to hold converse, other than that which was exchanged through the expres-
sive language of our hollow, and bilious, sunken eyes.

The Captain had been sent with a company of dragoons to escort the
Santa Fee Traders through the country of the Camanchees and Pawnees,
and had returned from a rapid and bold foray into the country, with many
of his men sick, and himself attacked with the epidemic of the country.
The Captain is a gentleman of high and noble bearing, of one of the most
respected families in Philadelphia, with a fine and chivalrous feeling ; but
with scarce physical stamina sufficient to bear him up under the rough vicis-
situdes of his wild and arduous sort of life in this country.

As soon as our respective surgeons had clarified our flesh and our bones
with calomel, had brought our pulses to beat calmly, our tongues to ply
gently, and our stomachs to digest moderately; we began to feel pleasure
exquisitely in our convalescence, and draw amusement from mutual relations
of scenes and adventures we had witnessed on our several marches. The
Captain convalescing faster than I did, soon got so as to eat (but not to
digest) enormous meals, which visited back upon him the renewed horrors of
his disease ; and I, who had got ahead of him in strength, but not in pru-
dence, was thrown back in my turn, by similar indulgence; and so we were
mutually and repeatedly, until he at length got so as to feel strength enough
to ride, and resolution enough to swear that he would take leave of that
deadly spot, and seek restoration and health in a cooler and more congenial

latitude. So he had his horse brought up one morning, whilst he was so
weak that he could scarcely mount upon its back, and with his servant, a
small negro boy, packed on another, he steered off upon the prairies towards
Fort Leavenworth, 500 miles to the North, where his company had long
since marched.

I remained a week or two longer, envying the Captain the good luck to
escape from that dangerous ground ; and after I had gained strength suf-
ficient to warrant it, I made preparations to take informal leave, and wend
my way also over the prairies to the Missouri, a distance of 500 miles, and
most of the way a solitary wilderness. For this purpose I had my horse
" Charley" brought up from his pasture, where he had been in good keeping
during my illness, and got so fat as to form almost an objectionable contrast
to his master, with whom he was to embark on a long and tedious journey
again, over the vast and almost boundless prairies.

I had, like the Captain, grown into such a dread of that place, from the
scenes of death that were and had been visited upon it, that I resolved to be
off as soon as I had strength to get on to my horse, and balance myself
upon his back. For this purpose I packed up my canvass and brushes,
and other luggage, and sent them down the river to the Mississippi, to be
forwarded by steamer, to meet me at St. Louis. So, one fine morning,
Charley was brought up and saddled, and a bear-skin and a buffalo robe
being spread upon his saddle, and a coffee-pot and tin cup tied to it also —
with a few pounds of hard biscuit in my portmanteau — with my fowling-
piece in my hand, and my pistols in my belt — with my sketch-book slung
on my back, and a small pocket compass in my pocket ; I took leave of
Fort Gibson, even against the advice of my surgeon and all the officers of
the garrison, who gathered around me to bid me farewell. No argument
could contend with the fixed resolve in my own mind, that if I could get
out upon the prairies, and moving continually to the Northward, I should
daily gain strength, and save myself, possibly, from the jaws of that vora-
cious burial-ground that laid in front of my room; where I had for months
laid and imagined myself going with other poor fellows, whose mournful
dirges were played under my window from day to day. No one can ima-
gine what was the dread I felt for that place ; nor the pleasure, which was
extatic, when Charley was trembling under me, and I turned him around
on the top of a prairie bluff at a mile distance, to take the last look upon it,
and thank God, as I did audibly, that I was not to be buried within its
enclosure. I said to myself, that " to die on the prairie, and be devoured
by wolves ; or to fall in combat and be scalped by an Indian, would be far
more acceptable than the lingering death that would consign me to the jaws
of that insatiable grave," for which, in the fever and weakness of my mind,
I had contracted so destructive a terror.

So, alone, without other living being with me than my affectionate horse
Charley, I turned my face to the North, and commenced on ray long journey,

89

with confidence full and strong, that I should gain strength daily; and
no one can ever know the pleasure of that moment, which placed me
alone, upon the boundless sea of waving grass, over which my proud horse
was prancing, and I with my life in my own hands, commenced to steer my
course to the banks of the Missouri.

For the convalescent, rising and escaping from the gloom and horrors of
a sick bed, astride of his strong and trembling horse, carrying him fast and
safely over green fields spotted and tinted with waving wild flowers ; and
through the fresh and cool breezes that are rushing about him, as he daily
shortens the distance that lies between him and his wife and little ones,
there is an exquisite pleasure yet to be learned, by those who never have
felt it.

Day by day I thus pranced and galloped along, the whole way through
waving grass and green fields, occasionally dismounting and lying in the
grass an hour or so, until the grim shaking and chattering of an ague chill
had passed off; and through the nights, slept on my bear-skin spread upon
the grass, with my saddle for my pillow, and my buffalo robe drawn over me
for my covering. My horse Charley was picketed near me at the end of
his laso, which gave him room for his grazing ; and thus we snored and nod-
ded away the nights, and never were denied the doleful serenades of the gangs
of sneaking wolves that were nightly perambulating our little encampment,
and stationed at a safe distance from us at sun-rise in the morning — gazing
at us, and impatient to pick up the crumbs and bones that were left, when we
moved away from our feeble fire that had faintly flickered through the night,
and in the absence of timber, had been made of dried bufialo dung, (plate
184).

This " Charley" was a noble animal of the Camanchee wild breed, of a
clay bank colour ; and from our long and tried acquaintance, we had be-
come very much attached to each other, and acquired a wonderful facility
both of mutual accommodation, and of construing each other's views and
intentions. In fact, we had been so long tried together, that there would
have seemed to the spectator almost an unity of interest ; and at all events,
an unity of feelings on the subject of attachment, as well as on that of -
mutual dependence and protection.

I purchased this very showy and well-known animal of Colonel Burbank,
of the ninth regiment, and rode it the whole distance to the Camanchee
villages and back again ; and at the time when most of the horses of the
regiment were drooping and giving out bV the way — Charley flourished
and came in in good flesh and good spirits.

On this journey, while he and I were twenty-five days alone, we had
much time, and the best of circumstances, under which to learn what we
had as yet overlooked in each other's characters, as well as to draw great
pleasure and real benefit from what we already had learned of each other,
in our former travels.

VOL. 11. N

90

I o-enerally halted on the bank of some little stream, at half an hour's
Bun, where feed was good for Charley, and where I could get wood to kindle
my fire, and water for my coffee. The first thing was to undress " Charley"
and drive down his picket, to which he was fastened, to graze over a circle
that he could inscribe at the end of his laso. In this wise he busily
fed himself until nightfall; and after my coffee was made and drank, I
uniformly moved him up, with his picket by my head, so that I could lay
mv hand upon his laso in an instant, in case of any alarm that was Uable
to drive him from me. On one of these evenings when he was grazing as
usual, he slipped the laso over his head, and deliberately took his sup-
per at his pleasure, wherever he chose to prefer it, as he was strolling around.
When night approached, I took the laso in hand and endeavoured to catch
him, but I soon saw that he was determined to enjoy a little freedom ; and
he continually evaded me until dark, when I abandoned the pursuit, making
up my mind that I should inevitably lose him, and be obliged to perform the
rest of my journey on foot. He had led me a chase of half a mile or more,
when I left him busily grazing, and returned to my little solitary bivouac,
and laid myself on my bear skin, and went to sleep.

In the middle of the night I waked, whilst I was lying on my back, and
on half opening my eyes, I was instantly shocked to the soul, by the huge
figure (as I thought) of an Indian, standing over me, and in the very instant
of taking my scalp ! The chill of horror that paralyzed me for the first
moment, held me still till I saw there was no need of my moving — that my
faithful horse " Charley" had "played shy" till he had " filled his belly,"
and had then moved up, from feelings of pure affection, or from instinctive
fear, or possibly, from a due share of both, and taken his position with his
forefeet at the edge of my bed, with his head hanging directly over me, while
he was standing fast asleep !

My nerves, which had been most violently shocked, were soon quieted,
and I fell asleep, and so continued until sunrise in the morning, when I
waked, and beheld my faithful servant at some considerable distance, busily
at work picking up his breakfast amongst the cane-brake, along the bank
of the creek. I went as busily to work, preparing my own, which was eaten,
and after it, I had another half-hour of fruitless endeavours to catch Charfey,
whilst he seemed mindful of success on the evening before, and continually
tantalized me by turning around and around, and keeping out of my reach.
I recollected the conclusive evidence of his attachment and dependence,
which he had voluntarily given in the night, and I thought I would try them
in another way. So I packed up my things and slung the saddle on my
back, trailing my gun in my hand, and started on my route. After I had
advanced a quarter of a mile, I looked back, and saw him standing with
his head and tail very high, looking alternately at me and at the spot where
I had been encamped, and left a little fire burning. In this condition he
stood and surveyed the prairies around for a while, as I continued on. He,

91

at length, walked with a hurried step to the spot, and seeing everything
gone, began to neigh very violently, and at last started off at fullest speed,
and overtook me, passing within a few paces of me, and wheeling about at
a few rods distance in front of me, trembling like an aspen leaf.

I called him by his familiar name, and walked up to him with the bridle
in my hand, which I put over his head, as he held it down for me, and the
saddle on his back, as he actually stooped to receive it. I was soon ar-
ranged, and on his back, when he started off upon his course as if he was
well contented and pleased, like his rider, with the manoeuvre which had
brought us together again, and afforded us mutual relief from our awkward
positions. Though this alarming freak of " Charley's" passed off and ter-
minated so satisfactorily ; yet I thought such rather dangerous ones to play,
and I took good care after that night, to keep him under my strict authority;
resolving to avoid further tricks and experiments till we got to the land of
cultivated fields and steady habits.

On the night of this memorable day, Charley and I stopped in one of
the most lovely little valleys I ever saw, and even far more beautiful than
could have been imagined by mortal man. An enchanting little lawn of
five or six acres, on the banks of a cool and rippling stream, that was alive
with fish ; and every now and then, a fine brood of young ducks, just old
enough for delicious food, and too unsophisticated to avoid an easy and
simple death. This little lawn was surrounded by bunches and copses of
the most luxuriant and picturesque foliage, consisting of the lofty bois d'arcs
and elms, spreading out their huge branches, as if offering protection to the
rounded groups of cherry and plum-trees that supported festoons of grape-
vines, with their purple clusters that hung in the most tempting manner
over the green carpet that was everywhere decked out with wild flowers, of
all tints and of various sizes, from the modest wild sun-flowers, with their
thousand tall and drooping heads, to the lillies that stood, and the violets
that crept beneath them. By the side of this cool stream, Charley was
fastened, and near him my bear-skin was spread in the grass, and by it my
little fire, to which I soon brought a fine string of perch from the brook ;
from which, and a broiled duck, and a delicious cup of coff^ee, I made
my dinner and supper, which were usually united in one meal, at half
an hour's sun. After this I strolled about this sweet little paradise, which
I found was chosen, not only by myself, but by the wild deer, which were
repeatedly rising from their quiet lairs, and bounding out, and over the
graceful swells of the prairies which hemmed in, and framed this little
picture of sweetest tints and most masterly touches.

The Indians also, I found, had loved it once, and left it ; for here and
there were their solitary and deserted graves, which told, though briefly, of
former chaunts and sports ; and perhaps, of wars aad deaths, that have
once rung and echoed through this little silent vale.

On my return to my encampment, 1 laid down upon my back, and

92

looked awhile into the blue heavens that were over me, with their pure and
milk white clouds that were passing — with the sun just setting in the West,
and the silver moon rising in the East, and renewed the impressions of my
own insignificance, as I contemplated the incomprehensible mechanism of
that locnderful clock, whose time is infallible, and whose motion is eternity !
I trembled, at last, at the dangerous expanse of my thoughts, and turned
them again, and my eyes, upon the little and more comprehensible things
that were about me. One of the first was a newspaper, which I had brought
from the Garrison, the National Intelligencer, of Washington, which I had
read for years, but never with quite the zest and relish that I now conversed
over its familiar columns, in this clean and sweet valley of dead silence !

And while reading, I thought of (and laughed), what I had almost forgotten,
the sensation I produced amongst the Minatarees while on the Upper Mis-
souri, a few years since, by taking from amongst my painting apparatus an old
number of the New York Commercial Advertiser, edited by my kind and tried
friend Colonel Stone. The Minatarees thought that I was mad, when they saw
me for hours together, with my eyes fixed upon its pages. They had different
and various conjectures about it ; the most current of which was, that I was
looking at it to cure my sore eyes, and they called it the " medicine cloth
for sore eyes !" I at length put an end to this and several equally ignorant
conjectures, by reading passages in it, which were interpreted to them, and
the objects of the paper fully explained ; after which, it was looked upon as
much greater mystery than before ; and several liberal offers were made me
for it, which I was obliged to refuse, having already received a beautifully
garnished robe for it, from the hands of a young son of Esculapius, who told
me that if he could employ a good interpreter to explain everything in it, he
could travel about amongst the Minatarees and Mandans, and Sioux, and
exhibit it after I was gone; getting rich with presents, and adding greatly
to the list of his medicines, as it would make him a great Medicine-Man. I left
with the poor fellow his painted robe, and the newspaper ; and just before I de-
parted, I saw him unfolding it to show to some of his friends, when he took
from around it, some eight or ten folds of birch bark and deer skins ; all of
which were carefully enclosed in a sack made of the skin of a pole cat, and un-
doubtedly destined to become, and to be called, his mystery or medicine-bag .

The distance from Fort Gibson to the Missouri, where I struck the river,
is about five hundred miles, and most of the way a beautiful prairie, in a
wild and uncultivated state without roads and without bridges, over a great
part of which I steered my course with my pocket-compass, fording and
swimming the streams in the best manner I could ; shooting prairie hens, and
occasionally catching fish, which I cooked for my meals, and slept upon the
ground at night. On my way I visited " Riqua's Village" of Osages, and
lodged d iring the night in the hospitable cabin of my old friend Beatte, of
whom I have often spoken heretofore, as one of the guides and hunters for
the dragoons on their campaign in the Camanchee country. This was the

93

most extraordinary hunter, I think, that I ever have met in all my tiavels.
To " hunt," was a phrase almost foreign to him, however, for when he went
out with his rifle, it was "for meat," or "for cattle ;" and he never came
in without it. He never told how many animals he had seen — how many
he had wounded, &c. — but his horse was always loaded with meat, which
was thrown down in camp without comment or words spoken. Riqua was
an early pioneer of Christianity in this country, who has devoted many years
of his life, with his interesting family, in endeavouring to civilize and chris-
tianize these people, by the force of pious and industrious examples, which
he has successfully set them ; and, I think, in the most judicious way, by
establishing a little village, at some miles distance from the villages of the
Osages ; where he has invited a considerable number of families who have
taken their residence by the side of him ; where they are following his virtu-
ous examples in their dealings and modes of life, and in agricultural pursuits
which he is teaching them, and showing them that they may raise the com-
forts and luxuries of life out of the ground, instead of seeking for them in
the precarious manner in which they naturally look for them, in the uncer-
tainty of the chase.

It was a source of much regret to me, that I did not see this pious man,
as he was on a Tour to the East, when I was in his little village.

Beatte lived in this village with his aged parents, to whom he introduced
me ; and with whom, altogether, I spent a very pleasant evening in conversa-
tion. They are both French, and have spent the greater part of their lives
with the Osages, and seem to be familiar with their whole history. This
Beatte was the hunter and guide for a party of rangers (the summer before
our campaign), with whom Washington Irving made his excursion to the
borders of the Pawnee country ; and of whose extraordinary character and
powers, Mr. Irving has drawn a very just and glowing account, excepting
one error which I think he has inadvertently fallen into, that of calling him
a " half breed." Beatte had complained of this to me often while out on
the prairies ; and when I entered his hospitable cabin, he said he was glad
to see me, and almost instantly continued, " Now you shall see. Monsieur
Catline, I am not ' half breed,' here I shall introduce you to my father and
my mother, who you see are two very nice and good old French people."

From this cabin where 1 fared well and slept soundly, I started in the
morning, after taking with them a good cup of coffee, and went smoothly on
over the prairies on ray course.

About the middle of my journey, I struck a road leading into a small civi-
lized settlement, called the " Kickapoo prairie," to which I " bent my
course ;" and riding up to a log cabin which was kept as a sort of an hotel
or tavern, I met at the door, the black boy belonging to my friend Captain
Wharton, who 1 have said took his leave of Fort Gibson a few weeks before
me ; I asked the boy where his master was, to which he replied, " My gooil
massa, Massa Wharton, in dese house, jist dead ob de libber compliment !"

94

I dismounted and went in, and to my deepest sonow and anguish, I found
him, as the boy said, nearly dead, without power to raise his head or his
voice — ^liis eyes were rolled upon me, and as he recognized me he took me
by the hand, which he firmly gripped, whilst both shed tears in profusion.
By placing my ear to his lips, his whispers could be heard, and he was able
in an imperfect manner to make his views and his wishes known. His disease
seemed to be a repeated attack of his former malady, and a severe affection
of the liver, which was to be (as his physician said) the proximate cause of
his death. I conversed with his physician who seemed to be a young and
inexperienced man, who told me that he certainly could not live more than
ten days. I staid two days with him, and having no means with me of
rendering him pecuniary or other aid amongst strangers, I left him in kind
hands, and started on my course &g&in. My health improved daily, from
the time of my setting out at Fort Gibson ; and I was now moving along
cheerfully, and in hopes soon to reach the end of my toilsome journey. I
had yet vast prairies to pass over, and occasional latent difficulties, which
were not apparent on their smooth and deceiving surfaces. Deep sunken
streams, like ditches, occasionally presented themselves suddenly to my view,
when I was within a few steps of plunging into them from their perpendicular
sides, which were overhung with long wild grass, and almost obscured from
the sight. The bearings of my compass told me that I must cross them, and
the only alternative was to plunge into them, and get out as well as I could.
They were often muddy, and I could not tell whether they were three or ten
feet deep, until my horse was in them ; and sometimes he went down head
foremost, and I with him, to scramble out on the opposite shore in the best
condition we could. In one of these canals, which I had followed for
several miles in the vain hope of finding a shoal, or an accustomed ford, 1
plunged, with Charley, where it was about six or eight yards wide (and God
knows how deep, for we did not go to the bottom), and swam him to the
opposite bank, on to which I clung ; and which, being perpendicular and of
clay, and three or four feet higher than the water, was an insurmountable
difficulty to Charley ; and I led the poor fellow at least a mile, as I walked
on the top of the bank, with the bridle in my hand, holding his head above
the water as he was swimming ; and I at times almost inextricably entangled
in the long grass that was often higher than my head, and hanging over the
brink, filled and woven together, with ivy and wild pea-vines. I at length
(and just before I was ready to drop the rein of faithful Charley, in hopeless
despair), came to an old buffalo ford, where the banks were graded down,
and the poor exhausted animal, at last got out, and was ready and willing
to take me and my luggage (after I had dried them in the sun) on the
journey again.

The Osage river which is a powerful stream, I struck at a place which
seemed to stagger my courage very much. There had been heavy rains but
a few days before, and this furious stream was rolling along its wild and

95

turbid waters, with a freshet upon it, that spread its waters, in many
over its banks, as was the case at the place where I encountered it.
seemed to be but little choice in places with this stream, which, with its banks
full, was sixty or eighty yards in width, with a current that was sweeping
along at a rapid rate. I stripped everything from Charley, and tied him
with his laso, until I travelled the shores up and down for some distance,
and collected drift wood enough for a small raft, which I constructed, to
carry my clothes and saddle, and other things, safe over. This being com-
pleted, and my clothes taken off, and they with other things, laid upon the
raft, I took Charley to the bank and drove him in and across, where he soon
reached the opposite shore, and went to feeding on the bank. Next was to
come the " great white medicine ;" and with him, saddle, bridle, saddle-bags,
sketch-book, gun and pistols, coffee and cofFee-pot, powder, and his clothes,
all of which were placed upon the raft, and the raft pushed into the stream, and
the " medicine man" swimming behind it, and pushing it along before him,
until it reached the opposite shore, at least half a mile below ! From this,
his things were carried to the top of the bank, and in a little time, Charley
was caught and dressed, and straddled, and on the way again.

These are a few of the incidents of that journey of 500 miles, which I
performed entirely alone, and which at last brought me out at Boonville on
the Western bank of the Missouri. While I was crossing the river at
that place, I met General Arbuckle, with two surgeons, who were to start
the next day from Boonville for Fort Gibson, travelling over the route that
I had just passed. I instantly informed them of the condition of poor
Wharton, and the two surgeons were started off that afternoon at fullest
speed, with orders to reach him in the shortest time possible, and do every-
thing to save his life. I assisted in purchasing for him, several little things
that he had named to me, such as jellies — acids — apples, &c. &c. ; and
saw them start ; and (God knows), I shall impatiently hope to hear of
their timely assistance, and of his recovery.*

From Boonville, which is a very pretty little town, building up with the finest
style of brick houses, I crossed the river to New Franklin, where I laid by
several days, on account of stormy weather ; and from thence proceeded
with success to the end of my journey, where I now am, under the roof of
kind and hospitable friends, with my dear wife, who has patiently waited
one year to receive me back, a wreck, as I now am ; and who is to start in
a few days with me to the coast of Florida, 1400 miles South of this, to
spend the winter in patching up my health, and fitting me for future cam-
paigns.

On this Tour (from which 1 shall return in the spring, if my health will

* I have great satisfaction in informing the reader, that I learned a year or so after the
above date, that those two skilful surgeons hastened on with all possible speed to the
assistance of this excellent gentleman, and had the satisfaction of conducting him to his
post after he had entirely and permanently recovered his health.

96

admit of it), I shall visit the Seminoles in Florida, — ^the Euchees — the
Creeks in Alabama and Georgia, and the Choctaws and CLerokees, who
are yet remaining on their lands, on the East side of the Mississippi.

We take steamer for New Orleans to-morrow, so, till after another cam-
paign, Adieu

97

LETTER— No. 47.

SAINT LOUIS.

Since the date of my last Letter, a whole long winter has passed off,
which I have whiled away on the Gulf of Mexico and about the shores of
Florida and Texas. My health was soon restored by the congenial climate
I there found, and my dear wife was my companion the whole way. We
visited the different posts, and all that we could find to interest us in these
delightful realms, and took steamer from New Orleans to this place, where
we arrived but a few days since.

Supposing that the reader by this time may be somewhat tired of follow-
ing me in my erratic wanderings over these wild regions, I have resolved to
sit down awhile before I go further, and open to him my sketch-book, in
which I have made a great many entries, as I have been dodging about,
and which I have not as yet shewed to him, for want of requisite time and
proper opportunity.

In opening this book, the reader will allow me to turn over leaf after leaf,
and describe to him, tribe after tribe, and chief after chief, of many of those
whom I have visited, without the tediousness of travelling too minutely over
the intervening distances ; in which I fear I might lose him as a fellow-
traveller, and leave him fagged out by the way-side, before he would see
all that I am anxious to show him.

About a year since I made a visit to the

KICKAPOOS,

At present but a small tribe, numbering six or 800, the remnant of a once
numerous and warlike tribe. They are residing within the state of Illinois,
near the south end of Lake Michigan, and living in a poor and miserable
condition, although they have one of the finest countries in the world.
They have been reduced in numbers by whiskey and small-pox, and the
game being destroyed in their country, and having little industry to work,
they are exceedingly poor and dependent. In fact, there is very little in-
ducement for them to build houses and cultivate their farms, for they own
so large and so fine a tract of country, which is now completely surrounded
by civilized settlements, that they know, from experience, they will soon
be obliged to sell out their country for a trifle, and move to the West.

vol. 11 o

This system of moving has already commenced with them, and a consider-
able party have located on a tract of lands offered to them on the West
bank of the Missouri river, a little north of Fort Leavenworth.*

The Kickapoos have long lived in alliance with the Sacs and Foxes, and
speak a language so similar that they seem almost to be of one family. The
present chief of this tribe, whose name is Kee-an-ne-kuk (the foremost man,
PLATE 185), usually called the Shawnee Prophet, is a very shrewd and
talented man. When he sat for his portrait, he took his attitude as seen
in the picture, which was that of prayer. And I soon learned that he was
a very devoted Christian, regularly holding meetings in his tribe, on the
sabbath, preaching to them and exhorting them to a belief in the Christian
religion, and to an abandonment of the fatal habit of whiskey-drinking,
which he strenuously represented as the bane that was to destroy them all,
if they did not entirely cease to use it. I went on the sabbath, to hear
this eloquent man preach, when he had his people assembled in the woods ;
and although I could not understand his language, 1 was surprised and
pleased with the natural ease and emphasis, and gesticulation, which carried
their own evidence of the eloquence of his sermon.

I was singularly struck with the noble efforts of this champion of the mere
remnant of a poisoned race, so strenuously labouring to rescue the remainder
of his people from the deadly bane that has been brought amongst them by
enlightened Christians. How far the efforts of this zealous man have suc-
ceeded in christianizing, I cannot tell, but it is quite certain that his exem-
plary and constant endeavours have completely abolished the practice of
drinking whiskey in his tribe ; which alone is a very praiseworthy achieve-
ment, and the first and indispensable step towards all other improvements.
T was some time amongst these people, and was exceedingly pleased, and
turprised also, to witness their sobriety, and their peaceable conduct ; not
having seen an instance of drunkenness, or seen or heard of any use made
of spirituous liquors whilst I was amongst the tribe.

Ah-ton-we-tuck (the cock turkey, plate 186), is another Kickapoo of
some distinction, and a disciple of the Prophet; in the attitude of prayer
also, which he is reading off from characters cut upon a stick that he holds
in his hands. It was told to me in the tribe by the Traders (though I am
afraid to vouch for the whole truth of it), that while a Methodist preacher
was soliciting him for permission to preach in his village, the Prophet refused
him the privilege, but secretly took him aside and supported him until he
learned from him his creed, and his system of teaching it to others ; when he
discharged him, and commenced preaching amongst his people himself; pre-
tending to have had an interview with some superhuman mission, or inspired
personage ; ingeniously resolving, that if there was any honour or emolu-
ment, or influence to be gained by the promulgation of it, he might as well

* Since the above was written, the whole of this tribe have been removed beyond the
Missouri, having sold out their lands in the state of Illinois to the Government.

112

18i

18 6

G. CajSui.

187

188

99

have it as another person ; and with this view he commenced preaching and
instituted a prayer, which lie ingeniously carved on a maple-stick of an inch
and a half in breadth, in characters somewhat resembling Chinese letters.
These sticks, with the prayers on them, he has introduced into every family of
the tribe, and into the hands of every individual ; and as he has necessarily
the manufacturing of them all, he sells them at his own price ; and has thus
added lucre to fame, and in two essential and effective ways, augmented his
influence in his tribe. Every man, woman and child in the tribe, so far as
I saw them, were in the habit of saying their prayer from this stick when
going to bed at night, and also when rising in the morning ; which was in-
variably done by placing the fore-finger of the right hand under the upper
character, until they repeat a sentence or two, which it suggests to them ;
and then slipping it under the next, and the next, and so on, to the bottom
of the stick, which altogether required about ten minutes, as it was sung
over in a sort of a chaunt, to the end.

Many people have called all this an ingenious piece of hypocrisy on the
part of the Prophet, and whether it be so or not, I cannot decide ; yet one
thing I can vouch to be true, that whether his motives and his life be as pure
as he pretendsor not, his example has done much towards correcting the habits
of his people, and has effectually turned their attention from the destructive
habits of dissipation and vice, to temperance and industry, in the pursuits of
agriculture and the arts. The world may still be unwilling to allow him
much credit for this, but I am ready to award him a great deal, who can by
liis influence thus far arrest the miseries of dissipation and the horrid de-
formities of vice, in the descending prospects of a nation who have so long
had, and still have, the white-skin teachers of vices and dissipation amongst
them.

Besides these two chiefs, I have also painted Ma-shee-na (the elk's horn)
Ke-chiin-qua (the big bear), warriors, and Ah-tee-wot-o-mee , and She-nah-
wee, women of the same tribe, whose portraits are in the Gallery.

WEE-AHS.

These are also the remnant of a once powerful tribe, and reduced by the
same causes, to the number of 200. This tribe formerly lived in the State
of Indiana, and have been moved with the Piankeshaws, to a position forty
or fifty miles south of Fort Leavenworth.

Go-to-kow-pah-a (he who stands by himself, plate 187), and Wa-pon-
je-a (the swan), are two of the most distinguished warriors of the tribe,
both with intelligent European heads.

POT-0-WAT-O-MIES.

The remains of a tribe who were once very numerous and warlike, but
reduced by whiskey and small-pox, to their present number, which is not
more than 2700. This tribe may be said to be semi-civilized, inasmucti

100

as they have so long lived in contiguity with white peoole, with whom
tlieir blood is considerably mixed, and whose modes and whose manners
they have in many respects copied. From a similarity of language as
well as of customs and personal appearance, there is no doubt that they
have formerly been a part of the great tribe of Chippeways or Ot-ta-was.
living neighbours and adjoining to them, on the North. This tribe live
within the state of Michigan, and there own a rich and very valuable
tract of land ; which, Hke the Kickapoos, they are selling out to the Go-
vernment, and about to remove to the west bank of the Missouri, where
a part of the tribe have already gone and settled, in the vicinity of Fort
Leavenworth. Of this tribe I have painted the portraits of On-saw-kie
(the Sac, plate 189), in the attitude of prayer, and Na-pow-sa (the Bear
travelling in the night,) plate 190, one of the principal chiefs of the tribe.
These people have for some time lived neighbours to, and somewhat under
the influence of the Kickapoos ; and very many of the tribe have become
zealous disciples of the Kickapoo prophet, using his prayers most devoutly,
and in the manner that I have already described, as is seen in the first
of the two last-named portraits.

KAS-KAS-KI-AS.

This is the name of a tribe that formerly occupied, and of course owned,
a vast tract of country lying on the East of the Mississippi, and between
its banks and the Ohio, and now forming a considerable portion of the great
and populous state of Illinois. History furnishes us a full and extraordinary
account of the once warlike character and numbers of this tribe; and also
of the disastrous career that they have led, from their first acquaintance
with civilized neighbours ; whose rapacious avarice in grasping for their
fine lands — with the banes of whiskey and small-pox, added to the unex-
ampled cruelty of neighbouring hostile tribes, who have struck at them in
the days of their adversity, and helped to erase them from existence.

Perhaps there has been no other tribe on the Continent of equal power
with the Kas-kas-ki-as, that have so suddenly sank down to complete an-
nihilation and disappeared. The remnant of this tribe have long since merged
into the tribe of Peorias of Illinois ; and it is doubtful whether one dozen
of them are now existing. With the very few remnants of this tribe will
die in a few years a beautiful language, entirely distinct from all others
about it, unless some enthusiastic person may preserve it from the lips of
those few who are yet able to speak it. Of this tribe I painted Kee-mon-
saw (the little chief), half-civilized, and, I should think, half-breed (plate
191 ;) and Wah-pe-seh-see (plate 192), a very aged woman, mother of the
same.

This young man is chief of the tribe ; and I was told by one of the
Traders, that his mother and his son, were his only subjects ! Whether
this be true or not, I cannot positively say, though I can assert vvith safety

113

189

190

CaOin

191

1.92

214

193

19 tt

if

\..

^ j,_ '^*

^m^.m

I'r. Cnibmi

19 5

196

101

that there are but a very few of them left, and that those, like all of the last
of tribes, will soon die of dissipation or broken hearts.

PE-0-RI-AS.

The name of another tribe inhabiting a part of the state of Illinois; and, like
the above tribes, but a remnant and civilized (or cicatrized, to speak more
correctly). This tribe number about 200, and are, like most of the other
remnants of tribes on the frontiers, under contract to move to the West of
the Missouri. Of this tribe I painted the portrait of Pah-me-cow-e-tah
(the man who tracks, plate 193) ; and Kee-mo-ra-ni-a (no English,
PLATE 194). These are said to be the most influential men in the tribe,
and both were very curiously and well dressed, in articles of civilized manu-
facture.

PI-AN-KE-SHAWS.

The remnant of another tribe, of the states of Illinois and Indiana, who have
also recently sold out their country to Government, and are under contract
to move to the West of the Missouri, in the vicinity of Fort Leavenworth.
Ni-a-co-mo (to fix with the foot, plate 195), a brave of distinction; and
Men-son-se-ah (the left hand, plate 196), a fierce-looking and very dis-
tinguished warrior, with a stone-hatchet in his hand, are fair specimens of
this reduced and enfeebled tribe, which do not number more than 170 per-
sons at this time.

DELAWARES.

The very sound of this name has carried terror wherever it has been heard
in the Indian wilderness ; and it has travelled and been known, as well as
the people, over a very great part of the Continent. This tribe originally
occupied a great part of the Eastern border of Pennsylvania, and great part
of the states of New Jersey and Delaware. No other tribe on the Continent
has been so much moved and jostled about by civilized invasions ; and none
have retreated so far, or fought their way so desperately, as they have
honourably and bravely contended for every foot of the ground they have
passed over. From the banks of the Delaware to the lovely Susquehana,
and my native valley, and to the base of and over, the Alleghany moun-
tains, to the Ohio river — to the Illinois and the Mississippi, and at last to
the West of the Missouri, they have been moved by Treaties after Treaties
with the Government, who have now assigned to the mere handful of them
that are left, a tract of land, as has been done a dozen times before, in/ee
simple, for ever ! In every move the poor fellows have made, they have
been thrust against their wills from the graves of their fathers and their
children ; and planted as they now are, on the borders of new enemies,
where their first occupation has been to take up their weapons in self-de-
fence, and fight for the ground they have been planted on. There is no

102

tribe, perhaps, amongst which greater and more continued exertions have
been made for their conversion to Christianity ; and that ever since the
zealous efforts of the Moravian missionaries, who first began with them ;
nor any, amongst whom those pious and zealous efforts have been squan-
dered more in vain ; which has, probably, been owing to the bad faith with
which they have so often and so continually been treated by white people,
which has excited prejudices that have stood in the way of their mental
improvement.

This scattered and reduced tribe, which once contained some 10 or
15,000, numbers at this time but 800 ; and the greater part of them have
been for the fifty or sixty years past, residing in Ohio and Indiana. In
these states, their reservations became surrounded by white people, whom
they dislike for neighbours, and their lands too valuable for Indians — and
the certain consequence has been, that they have sold out and taken lands
West of the Mississippi ; on to which they have moved, and on which it is,
and always will be, almost impossible to find them, owing to their desperate
disposition for roaming about, indulging in the chase, and in wars with their
enemies.

The wild frontier on which they are now placed, affords them so fine an
opportunity to indulge both of these propensities, that they will be con-
tinually wandering in little and desperate parties over the vast buffalo plains,
and exposed to their enemies, till at last the new country, which is given to
them, in " fee simple, for ever," and which is destitute of game, will be
deserted, and they, like the most of the removed remnants of tribes, will be
destroyed ; and the faith of the Government well preserved, which has
offered this as their last move, and these lands as theirs in fee simple,
fot ever.

In my travels on the Upper Missouri, and in the Rocky Mountains, I
learned to my utter astonishment, that little parties of these adventurous
myrmidons, of only six or eight in numbers, had visited those remote tribes,
at 2000 miles distance ; and in several instances, after having cajoled a whole
tribe — having been feasted in their villages — having solemnized the articles
of everlasting peace with them, and received many presents at their hands,
and taken affectionate leave, have brought away six or eiglit scalps with
them ; and nevertheless, braved their way, and defended themselves as tliey
retreated in safety out of their enemies' country, and through the regions of
other hostile tribes, where they managed to receive the same honours, and
come off with similar trophies.

Amongst this tribe there are some renowned chiefs, whose lives, if correctly
written, would be matter of the most extraordinary kind for the reading
world ; and of which, it may be in my power at some future time, to give
a more detailed account. In plate 197 will be seen the portrait of one of
tlie leading chiefs of the tribe, whose name is Ni-co-man (the answer), with
his bow and arrows in his hand. Non-on-da-gon (ilate 198), with a

197

19 8

-fi^-i

19 9

G.Catlin,

200

103

silver ring in his nose, is another of the chiefs of distinction, whose history
I admired very much, and whom, from his very gentlemanly attentions to me,
I became much attached to. In both' of these instances, their dresses were
principally of stuffs of civilized manufacture ; and their heads were bound
with vari-coloured handkerchiefs or shawls, which were tastefully put on
like a Turkish turban.

MO-HEE-CON-NEUHS, oa MOHEGANS (the good canoemen).

There are 400 of this once powerful and still famous tribe, residing near
Green Bay, on a rich tract of land given to them by the Government, in the
territory of Wisconsin, near Winnebago lake — on which they are living
very comfortably ; having brought with them from their former country, in
the state of Massachusetts, a knowledge of agriculture, which they had
there effectually learned and practiced.

This tribe are the remains, and all that are left, of the once powerful and
celebrated tribe of Pequots of Massachusetts. History tells us, that in their
wars and dissensions with the whites, a considerable portion of the tribe
moved off under the command of a rival chief, and established a separate
tribe or band, and took the name of Mo-hee-con-neuhs, which they have
preserved until the present day ; the rest of the tribe having long since
been extinct.

The chief of this tribe, Ee-tow-o-kaum (both sides of the river, plate
199), which I have painted at full length, with a psalm-book in one hand,
and a cane in the other, is a very shrewd and intelligent man, and a pro-
fessed, and I think, sincere Christian. ■ W aun-naw-con (the dish), John
W. Quinney (plate 200), in civilized dress, is a civilized Indian, well-
educated — speaking good English — is a Baptist missionary preacher, and a
very plausible and eloquent speaker.

0-NEI-DA'S.

The remnant of a numerous tribe that have been destroyed by wars with
the whites — by whiskey and small- pox, numbering at present but five or
six hundred, and living in the most miserable poverty, on their reserve in
the state of New York, near Utica and the banks of the Mohawk river.
This tribe was one of the confederacy, called the Six Nations, and much
distinguished in the early history of New York. The present chief is known
by the name of Bread (plate 201). He is a shrewd and talented man,
well educated, — speaking good English — is handsome, and a polite and
gentlemanly man in his deportment.

TUS-KA-RO-RA'S.
Another of the tribes in the confederacy of the Six Nations, once numerous,
but reduced at present to the number of 500. This little tribe are living on
their reserve, a fine tract of land, near Buffalo, in the state of New York,

104

and surrounded by civilized settlements. Many of them are good farmers,
raising abundant and fine crops.

The chief of the tribe is a very dignified man, by the name of Cu-sick,
and his son, of the same name, whom I have painted (plate 202), is a very
talented man — has been educated for the pulpit in some one of our public .
institutions, and is now a Baptist preacher, and I am told a very eloquent
speaker.

SEN-E-CA'S.

One thousand two hundred in numbers at present, living on their reserve,
near Buffalo, and within a few miles of Niagara Falls, in the state of New
York. This tribe formerly lived on the banks of the Seneca and Cayuga
lakes ; but, like all the other tribes who have stood in the way of the
" march of civilization," have repeatedly bargained away their country, and
removed to the West ; which easily accounts for the origin of the familiar
phrase that is used amongst them, that " they are going to the setting sun."

This tribe, when first known to the civilized world, contained some eight
or ten thousand ; and from their position in the centre of the state of New
York, held an important place in its history. The Senecas were one of the
most numerous and effective tribes, constituting the compact called the " Six
Nations;" which was a confederacy formed by six tribes, who joined in a
league as an effective mode of gaining strength, and preserving themselves
by combined efforts which would be sufficiently strong to withstand the assaults
of neighbouring tribes, or to resist the incursions of white people in their
country. This confederacy consisted of the Senecas, Oneidas, Onondagas,
Cayugas, Mohawks, and Tuskaroras ; and until the innovations of white
people, with their destructive engines of war — with whiskey and small-pox,
they held their sway in the country, carrying victory, and consequently terror
and dismay, wherever they warred. Their war-parties were fearlessly sent
into Connecticut and Massachusetts, to Virginia, and even to the Carolinas.
and victory everywhere crowned their efforts. Their combined strength,
however, in all its might, poor fellows, was not enough to withstand the siege
of their insidious foes — a destroying flood that has risen and advanced, like a
flood-tide upon them, and covered their country ; has broken up their strong
holds, has driven them from land to land ; and in their retreat, has drowned
the most of them in its waves.

The Senecas are the most numerous remnant of this compact ; and have
at their head an aged and very distinguished chief, familiarly known
throughout the United States, by the name of Red Jacket (plate 205). I
painted this portrait from the life, in the costume in which he is represented ;
and indulged him also, in the wish he expressed, " that he might be seen
.standing on the Table Rock, at the Falls of Niagara ; about which place he
thought his spirit would linger after he was dead."

Good Hunter (plate 203), and Hurd Hickory (plate 204), are fair

201

202

G-. CaiLvn,.

203

204

217

6 QdJw,

ZO')

10

c

specimens of the warriors of this tribe or rather hunters ; or perhaps, still more
correctly speaking, /armers ; for the Senecas have had no battles to fight
lately, and very little game to kill, except squirrels and pheasants ; and their
hands are turned to the plough, having become, most of them, tolerable
farmers ; raising the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life, from
the soil.

Of this interesting tribe, the visitors to my Gallery will find several other
portraits and paintings of their customs ; and in books that have been writ-
ten, and are being compiled, a much more able and faithful account than I
can give in an epistle of this kind.

The fame as well as the face of Red Jacket, is generally familiar to the
citizens of the United States and the Canadas ; and for the information of
those who have not known him, I will briefly say, that he has been for many
years the head chief of the scattered remnants of that once powerful compact,
the Six Nations ; a part of whom reside on their reservations in the vicinity
of the Senecas, amounting perhaps in all, to about four thousand, and own-
ing some two hundred thousand acres of fine lands. Of this Confederacy,
the Mohawks and Cayugas, chiefly emigrated to Canada, some fifty years
ago, leaving the Senecas, the Tuskaroras, Oneidas, and Onondagas in the
slate of New York, on fine tracts of lands, completely surrounded with
white population ; who by industry and enlerprize, are making the Indian
lands too valuable to be long in their possession, who will no doubt be in-
duced to sell out to the Government, or, in other words, to exchange them
for lands West of the Mississippi, where it is the avov/ed intention of the
Government to remove all the border tribes.*

Red Jacket has been reputed one of the greatest orators of his day ; and,
no doubt, more distinguished for his eloquence and his influence in council,
than as a warrior, in which character I think history has not said much of
him. This may be owing, in a great measure, to the fact that the wars of
his nation were chiefly fought before his fighting days ; and that the greater
part of his life and his talents have been spent with his tribe, during its
downfall ; where, instead of the horrors of Indian wars, they have had a
more fatal and destructive enemy to encounter, in the insidious encroach-
ments of pale faces, which he has been for many years exerting his eloquence
and all his talents to resist. Poor old chief — not all the eloquence of Cicero
and Demosthenes would be able to avert the calamity, that awaits his de-
clining nation — to resist the despoiling hand of mercenary white man, that
opens and spreads liberally, but to entrap the unwary and ignorant within
its withering grasp.

This talented old man has for many years past, strenuously remonstrated

* Since the above was written, the Senecas and all the other remnants of the Six Nations
residing in the state of New York, have agreed in Treaties with the United States to re-
move to tracts of country assigned them, West of the Mississippi, twelve hundred miles
from their reservations in the state of New York.

VOL. TI. P

106

both to the Governor of New York, and the President of the United States?
Sgainst the continual encroachments of white people ; whom he represented
as using every endeavour to wrest from them their lands — to destroy their
game, introducing vices of a horrible character, and unknown to his people
by nature ! and most vehemently of all, has he continually remonstrated
against the preaching of missionaries in his tribe ; alleging, that the " black
coats" (as he calls the clergymen), did more mischief than good in
his tribe, by creating doubts and dissensions amongst his people ! which are
destructive of his peace, and dangerous to the success, and even existence of
his tribe. Like many other great men who endeavour to soothe broken and
painful feelings, by the kindness of the bottle, he has long since taken up
whiskey-drinking to excess ; and much of his time, lies drunk in his cabin,
or under the corner of a fence, or wherever else its kindness urges the necesr
sity of his dropping his helpless body and Hmbs, to indulge in the delightfui
spell. He is as great a drunkard as some of our most distinguished law-
givers and law-makers ; and yet ten times more culpable, as he has little
to do in life, and wields the destinies of a nation in his hands !*

There are no better people to be found, than the Seneca Indians — none
that I know of that are by Nature more talented and ingenious ; nor any
that would be found to be better neighbours, if the arts and abuses of white
men and whiskey, could be kept away from them. They have mostly laid
down their hunting habits, and become efficient farmers, raising fine crops of
corn, and a great abundance of hogs, cattle and horses, and other necessaries
and luxuries of life.

I-RO-QUOIS.

One of the most numerous and powerful tribes that ever existed in the
Northern regions of our country, and now one of the most completely an-
nihilated. This tribe occupied a vast tract of country on the River St. Law-
rence, between its banks and Lake Champlain ; and at times, by conquest,
actually over-run the whole country, from that to the shores of Lakes Erie,
Huron, and Michigan. But by their continual wars with the French,
English, and Indians, and dissipation and disease, they have been almost
entirely annihilated. The few remnants of them have long since merged
into other tribes, and been mostly lost sight of.f Of this tribe I have

* This celebrated chief died several years since, in his village near Buffalo ; and since
his death our famous comedian, Mr. Placide, has erected a handsome and appropriate
monument over his grave ; and I am pleased also to learn, that my friend Wm. L. Stone,
Esq., is building him a still more lasting one in history, which he is compiling, of the life
of this extraordinary man, to an early perusal of which, I can confidently refer the world
for much curious and valuable information.

t The whole of the Six Nations have been by some writers denominated Iroquois — how
correct this may be, I am not quite able to say ; one thing is certain, that is, that the Iro-
quois tribe did not all belong to that Confederacy, their original country was on the shores
of the St. Lawrence ; and, although one branch of their nation, the Mohawks, formed a
(lart, and the most effective portion of that compact, yet the other members of it spoke

JJS'

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^yM"^

,.,u. ^v^A-

.--fv^v^ ; jl^m^V.^^--^-^^-— ^^ -^ -^ijjirtv,^

206

107

painted but one, Not-o-way (the thinker, plate 206). This was an ex-
cellent man, and was handsomely dressed for his picture. I had much con-
versation with him, and became very much attached to him. He seemed to
be quite ignorant of the early history of his tribe, as well as of the position
and condition of its few scattered remnants, who are yet in existence. He told
me, however, that he had always learned that the Iroquois had conquered
nearly all the world ; but the Great Spirit being offended at the great slaugh-
ters by his favourite people, resolved to punish them ; and he sent a dreadful
disease amongst them, that carried the most of them off, and all the rest that
could be found, were killed by their enemies — that though he was an Iroquois,
which he was proud to acknowledge to me, as I was to " make him live
after he was dead ;" he wished it to be generally thought, that he was a
Chippeway, that he might live as long as the Great Spirit had wished it
when he made him.*

different languages ; and a great part of the Iroquois moved their settlements further
North and East, instead of joining in the continual wars carried on by the Six Nations, [t
is of this part of the tribe that I am speaking, when I mention them as nearly extinct : and
it is from this branch of the family that I got the portrait which I have introduced above.
* Since the above Letter was written, all the tribes and remnants of tribes mentioned in
it have been removed by the Government, to lands West of the Mississippi and Missouri,
given to them in addition to considerable annuities, in consideration for the immense
tracts of country they have left on the frontier, and within the States. The present
positions of these tribes, and their relative locations to the civilized frontier and the wild,
unjostled tribes, can be seen on a map in the beginning of this Volume. There are also
other tribes there laid down, who have also been removed by Treaty stipulations, in the
same way, which are treated of in subsequent Letters. The Government, under General
Jackson, streituously set forth and carried out, the policy of removing all the semi-civi-
lized and border Indians, to a country West of the Mississippi ; and although the project
had many violent opponents, yet there were very many strong reasons in favour of it, and
the thing has been at last done ; and a few years will decide, by the best of all arguments,
whether the policy was a good one or not. I may have occasion to say more on this sub-
ject hereafter ; and in the mean time recommend the reader to examine their relative
positions, and contemplate their prospects between their mortal foea on the West, and
their acquisitive /riends following them up from the East.

108

LETTER— No. 48.

ST, LOUIS.

Whilst I am thus taking a hasty glance at the tribes on the Atlantic
Coast, on the borders of Mexico, and the confines of Canada, the reader will
pardon me for takuig him for a few minutes to the mouth of the Columbia,
on the Pacific Coast; which place I have not yet quite reached myself, in
my v/ild rambles, but most undoubtedly shall erelong, if my strolling career
be not suddenly stopped. 1 scarcely need tell the reader where the Colum-
bia River is, since its course and its character have been so often, and so
well described, by recent travellers through those regions. I can now but
glance at this remote country and its customs ; and revert to it again after I
shall have examined it in all its parts, and collected my materials for a fuller

account.

FLAT HEADS.

These are a very numerous people, inhabiting the shores of the Columbia
River, and a vast tract of country lying to the South of it, and living- in a
country which is exceedingly sterile and almost entirely, in many parts,
destitute of game for the subsistence of the savage ; they are mostly obliged
to live on roots, which they dig from the ground, and fish which they take
from the streams ; the consequences of which are, that they are generally
poor and miserably clad ; and in no respect equal to the Indians of whom I
have heretofore spoken, who live on the East of the Rocky Mountains, in
the ranges of the buffaloes; where they are well-fed, and mostly have good
horses to ride, and materials in abundance for manufacturing their beautiful
and comfortable dresses.

The people generally denominated Flat Heads, are divided into a great
many bands, and although they have undoubtedly got their name from the
custom of flattening the head ; yet there are but very few of those so deno-
minated, who actually practice that extraordinary custom.

The Nez Perces who inhabit the upper waters and mountainous parts of
the Columbia, are a part of this tribe, though they are seldom known to
flatten the head like those lower down, and about the mouth of the river.
Hee-oJiks-te-kin (the rabbit skin leggings, plate 207), and H'co-a-lico-a-
h'cotes-min (no horns on his head, plate 208), are young men of this tribe.
These two young men, when I painted them, were in beautiful Sioux dresses,

no

107

208

200

» (j. iyalU'.K

10-^

which had been presented to them in a talk with the Sioux, who treated
them very kindly, while passing through the Sioux country. These two men
were part of a delegation that came across the Rocky Mountains to St.
Louis, a few years since, to enquire for the truth of a representation which
they said some white man had made amongst them, " that our religion was
better than theirs, and that they would all be lost if they did not embrace it."
Two old and venerable men of this party died in St. Louis, and I travelled
two thousand miles, companion with these two young fellows, towards their
own country, and became much pleased with their manners and dispositions.
The last mentioned of the two, died near the mouth of the Yellow Stone
River on his way home, with disease which he had contracted in the civi-
lized district ; and the other one I have since learned, arrived safely amongst
his friends, conveying to them the melancholy intelligence of the deaths of
all the rest of his party; but assurances at the same time, from General
Clark, and many Revei'end gentlemen, that the report which they had heard
was well founded ; and that missionaries, good and religious men, would soon
come amongst them to teach this religion, so that they could all understand
and have the benefits of it.

When I first heard the report of the object of this extraordinary mission
across the mountains, I could scarcely believe it ; but on conversing with
General Clark on a future occasion, I was fully convinced of the fact ; and
I, like thousands of others, have had the satisfaction of witnessing the com-
plete success that has crowned the bold and daring exertions of Mr. Lee and
Mr. Spalding, two Reverend gentlemen who have answered in a Christian
manner to this unprecedented call ; and with their wives have crossed the
most rugged wilds and wildernesses of the Rocky Mountains, and trium-
phantly proved to the world, that the Indians, in their native wilds are a
kind and friendly people, and susceptible of mental improvement.

1 had long been of the opinion, that to ensure success, the exertions of pious
men should be carried into the heart of the wilderness, beyond the reach aiul
influence of civilized vices ; and I so expressed my opinion to the Reverend
Mr. Spalding and his lady, in Pittsburgh, when on their way, in their first
Tour to that distant country. I have seen the Reverend Mr. Lee and several
others of the mission, several years since the formation of their school ; as
well as several gentlemen who have visited their settlement, and from all, I
am fully convinced of the complete success of these excellent and persever-
ing gentlemen, in proving to the world the absurdity of the assertion that
has been often made, " that the Indian can never be civilized or christian-
ized." Their uninterrupted transit over such a vast and wild journey, also,
with their wives on horseback, who were everywhere on their way, as well as
amongst the tribes where they have located, treated with the utmost kind-
ness and respect, bears strong testimony to the assertions so often made by
travellers in those countries, that these are, in their native state, a kind ; i;d
excellent people.

no

I hope I shall on a future occasion, be able to give the reader some further
detailed account of the success of these zealous and excellent men, whose
example, of penetrating to the heart of the Indian country, and there teach-
ing the Indian in the true and effective way, will be a lasting honour to
themselves, and I fully believe, a permanent benefit to those ignorant and
benighted people.

THE CHINOOKS,

Inhabiting the lower parts of the Columbia, are a small tribe, and correctly
come under the name of Flat Heads, as they are almost the only people who
strictly adhere to the custom of squeezing and flattening the head. Plate
209, is the portrait of a Chinook boy, of fifteen or eighteen years of age, on
whose head that frightful operation has never been performed. And in
PLATE 210, will be seen the portrait of a Chinook woman, with her child
in her arms, her own head flattened, and the infant undergoing the process
of flattening ; which is done by placing its back oil a board, or tliick plank,
to which it is lashed with thongs, to a position from which it cannot escape,
and the back of the head supported by a sort of pillow, made of moss or
rabbit skms, with an inclined piece (as is seen in the drawing), resting on
the forehead of the child ; being every day drawn down a little tighter by
means of a cord, which holds it in its place, until it at length touches the
nose ; thus forming a straight line from the crown of the head to the end of
the nose.

This process is seemingly a very cruel one, though I doubt whether
it causes much pain ; as it is done in earliest infancy, whilst the bones
are soft and cartilaginous, and easily pressed into this distorted shape,
by forcing the occipital up, and the frontal down ; so that the skull at the
top, in profile, will show a breadth of not more than an inch and a half, or
two inches ; when in a front view it exhibits a great expansion on the sides,
making it at the top, nearly the width of one and a half natural heads.

By this remarkable operation, the brain is singularly changed from its
natural shape ; but in all probability, not in the least diminished or injured
in its natural functions. This belief is drawn from the testimony of many
credible witnesses, who have closely scrutinized them ; and ascertained that
those who have the head flattened, are in no way inferior in intellectual
powers to those whose heads are in their natural shapes.

In the process of flattening the head, there is often another form of crib
or cradle, into which the child is placed, much in the form of a small canoe,
dug out of a log of wood, with a cavity just large enough to admit the body
of the child, and the head also, givmg it room to expand in width ; while
from the head of the cradle there is a sort of lever, with an elastic spring to
it that comes down on the forehead of the child, and produces tiie same
effects as the one I have above described.

The child is wrapped iii rabbits* skins, and placed in this little coffin-like

J20

21()'/2

&. CaMii/ry

Ill

looking cradle, from which it is not, in some instances^ taken out for several
weeks. The bandages over and about the lower limbs, and as high up as
the breast, are loose, and repeatedly taken off in the same day, as the
child may require cleansing ; but the head and shoulders are kept strictly
in the same position, and the breast given to the child by holding it up in
the cradle, loosing the outer end of the lever that comes over the nose,
and raising it up of turning it aside, so as to allow the child to come at the
breast, without moving its head.

The length of time that the infants are generally carried in these cradles
is three, five, or eight weeks, until the bones are so formed as to keep their
shapes, and preserve this singular appearance through life.

This little cradle has a strap, which passes over the woman's forehead
whilst the cradle rides on her back ; and if the child dies during its subjec-
tion to this rigid mode, its cradle becomes its coffin, forming a little canoe,
in which it lies floating on the water in some sacred pool, where they are
often in the habit of fastening the canoes, containing the dead bodies of the
old and the young ; or which is often the case, elevated into the branches
of trees, where their bodies are left to decay, and their bones to dry ;
whilst they are bandaged in many skins, and curiously packed in their
canoes, with paddles to propel, and ladles to bail them out, and provisions
to last, and pipes to smoke, as they are performing their " long journey
after death, to iheir contemplated hunting-grounds," which these people
think is to be performed in their canoes.

In PLATE 210^ letter a, is an accurate drawing of the above-mentioned
cradle, perfectly exemplifying the custom described ; and by the side of it
(letter b,) the drawing of a Chinook skull, giving the front and profile view
of it. Letter c, in the same plate, exhibits an Indian skull in its natural
shape, to contrast with the artificial.*

This mode of flattening the head is certainly one of the most unaccount-
able, as well as unmeaning customs, found amongst the North American
Indians. What it could have originated in, or for what purpose, other than
a mere useless fashion, it could have been invented, no human being can
probably ever tell. The Indians have many curious and ridiculous fashions,
which have come into existence, no doubt, by accident, and are of no earthly
use (like many silly fashions in enlightened society), yet they are per-
petuated much longer, and that only because their ancestors practiced them
in ages gone by. The greater part of Indian modes, however, and particularly
those that are accompanied with much pain or trouble in their enactment,
are most wonderfully adapted to the production of some good or useful re-
sults ; for which the inquisitive world, I am sure, may for ever look in vajii to
this stupid and useless fashion, that has most unfortunately been engendered
on these ignorant people, whose superstition forbids them to lay it down.

• Besides tbese, there are a number of other skulls in the Collection, most interesting
Bpecimeus, from various tribes.

112

It is a curious fact, and one that should be mentioned here, that these
people have not been alone in this strange custom ; but that it existed and
was practiced precisely the same, until recently, amongst the Choctaws and
Chickasaws ; who occupied a large pan of the states of Mississippi and
Alabama, where they have laid their bones, and hundreds of their skulls
have been procured, bearing incontrovertible evidence of a similar treatment,
with similar results.

The Choctaws who are now living, do not flatten the head ; the custom,
like that of the medicine- bag, and many others, which the Indians have de-
parted from, from the assurances of white people, that they were of no use,
and were utterly ridiculous to be followed. Whilst amongst the Choctaws, I
could learn little more from the people about such a custom, than that " their
old men recollected to have heard it spoken of" — Avhich is much less satis-
factory evidence than inquisitive white people get by referring to the grave,
which the Indian never meddles with. The distance of the Choctaws from
the country of the Chinooks, is certainly between two and three thousand
miles ; and there being no intervening tribes practicing the same custom —
and no probability that any two tribes in a state of Nature, would ever hit
upon so peculiar an absurdity, we come, whether willingly or not, to the
conclusion, that these tribes must at some former period, have lived neigh-
bours to each other, or have been parts of the same family ; which time and
circumstances have gradually removed to sucli a very great distance from
each other. Nor does this, in my opinion (as many suppose), furnish any
very strong evidence in support of the theory, tliat the different tribes have
all sprung from one stock ; but carries a strong argument to the other side,
by furnishing proof of the very great tenacity these people have for their
peculiar customs ; many of which are certainly not general, but often carried
from one end of the Continent to the other, or from ocean to ocean, by
bands or sections of tribes, which often get "run off" by their enemies
in wars, or in hunting, as I have before described ; where to emigrate
to a vast distance is not so unaccountable a thing, but almost the inevitable
result, of a tribe that have got set in motion, all the way amongst deadly
foes, in whose countries it would be fatal to stop.

I am obliged therefore, to believe, that either the Chinooks emigrated from
the Atlantic, or that the Choctaws came from the West side of the Rocky
Mountains ; and I regret exceedingly that I have not been able as yet, tj
compare the languages of these two tribes, in which I should expect to find
some decided resemblance. They might, however, have been near neigh-
bours, and practicing a copied custom where there was no resemblance in
their languasre.

Whilst among the Choctaws I wrote down from the lips of one of their
chiefs, the following tradition, which seems strongly to favour the supposi-
tion that they came from a great distance in the West, and probably from
beyond the Rocky Mountains : — Tradition, " The Choctaws, a great many

113

winters ago, commenced moving from the country where they then hved, which
was a great distance to the West of the great river, and the mountains of
snow ; and they were a great many years on their way. A great medicine-man
led them the whole way, by going before with a red pole, which he stuck in the
ground every night where they encamped. This pole was every mornino-
found leaning to the East ; and he told them that they must continue to
travel to the East, until the pole would stand upright in their encampment,
and that there the Great Spirit had directed that they should live. At a
place which they named Nah-ne-wa-ye (the sloping hill) ; the pole stood
straight up, where they pitched their encampment, which was one mile square,
with the men encamped on the outside, and the women and children in the
centre; which is the centre of the old Choctaw nation to ' this day.' "

In the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia, there are, besides the
Chinooks, the Klick-a-tacks , Cheehaylas, Na-as, and many other tribes,
whose customs are interesting, and of whose manufactures, my Museum con-
tains many very curious and interesting specimens, from which I have
inserted a few outlines in plate 2101, to which the reader will refer. Letter
d, is a correct drawing of a Chinook canoe — e, a Na-as war-canoe, curiously
carved and painted — -f, two dishes or ladles for baling their canoes — g, a
Stikeen mask, curiously carved and painted, worn by the mystery-men when
in councils, for the purpose of calling up the Great or Evil Spirits to consult
3n the policy of peace or war — h, custom of the Na-as women of wearing a
block of wood in the under lip, which is almost as unaccountable as thc
custom of flattening the head. Letter i, is a drawing of the block, and the
exact dimensions of one in the Collection, taken out of the lip of a deceased
Na-as woman — k, " wapito diggers," instruments used by the women for
digging the wapito, a bulbous root, much like a turnip, which the French
Traders call pomme blanche, and which I have before described. Letter /,
pau-to-mau-gons, or po-ko-mo-kous, war-clubs, the one made by the Indians
from a piece of native copper, the other of the bone of the sperm whale.
Letter n, two very curiously carved pipes, made of black slate and highly
polished.

Besides these, the visitor will find in the Collection a great number
of their very ingenious articles of dress ; their culinary, war, and hunting
implements, as well as specimens of their spinning and weaving, by which
they convert dog's hair and the wool of the mountain-sheep into durable and
s^plendid robes, the production of which, I venture to say, would bid defiance
to any of the looms in the American or British Factories.

The Indians who inhabit the rugged wildernesses of the Rocky Mountains,
are chiefly the Blackfeet and Crows, of whom I have heretofore spoken, and
the Shoshonees or Snakes, who are a part of the Camanchees, speaking the
same language, and the Shoshokies or root diggers, who inhabit the southern
parts of those vast and wild realms, with the Arapohoes and Navahoes, who
arc neighbours to the Camanchees on the West, having Santa Fe on the

VOL. II. o

114

South, and the coast of California on the West, Of the Shoshonees and
Shoshokies, all travellers who have spoken of them, give them a good cha-
racter, as a kind and hospitable and harmless people ; to which fact I could
cite the unquestionable authorities of the excellent Rev. Mr. Parker, who
has published his interesting Tour across the Rocky Mountains — Lewis and
Clarke — Capt. Bonneville and others; and I allege it to be a truth, that the
reason why we find them as they are uniformly described, a kind and inoffen-
sive people, is, that they have not as yet been abused — that they are in their
primitive state, as the Great Spirit made and endowed them with good
hearts and kind feelings, unalloyed and untainted by the vices of the money-
making world.

To the same fact, relative to the tribes on the Columbia river, I have been
allowed to quote the authority of H. Beaver, a very worthy and kind Reve-
rend Gentleman of England, who has been for several years past living with
these people, and writes to me thus : —

" I shall be always ready, with pleasure, to testify my perfect accordance
with the sentiments I have heard you express, both in your public lectures,
and private conversation, relative to the much-traduced character of our
Red brethren, particularly as it relates to their honesty, hospitality and
peaceableness, throughout the length and breadth of the Columbia. What-
ever of a contrary disposition has at any time, in those parts, been dis-
played by them, has, I am persuaded been exotic, and forced on them by
the depravity and impositions of the white Traders."

115

LETTER— No. 49

ST. LOUIS.

In one of my last Letters from Fort Gibson, written some months since,
I promised to open my note-book on a future occasion, to give some further
account of tribes and remnants of tribes located in that vicinity, amongst
whom I had been spending some time with my pen and my pencil ; and
having since that time extended my rambles over much of that ground again,
and also through the regions of the East and South East, from whence
the most of those tribes have emigrated ; I consider this a proper time to
say something more of them, and their customs and condition, before I go
fartlier.

The most of these, as I have said, are tribes or parts of tribes which the
Government has recently, by means of Treaty stipulations, removed to that
wild and distant country, on to lands which have been given to them in
exchange for their valuable possessions within the States, ten or twelve hun-
dred miles to the East.

Of a number of such reduced and removed tribes, who have been located
West of the Missouri, and North of St. Louis, I have already spoken in a
former Letter, and shall yet make brief mention of another, which has been
conducted to the same region — and then direct the attention of the reader
to those which are settled in the neighbourhood of Fort Gibson, who are the
Cherokees — Creeks — Ghoctaws — Chickasaws — Seminoles, and Euchees.
The people above alluded to are the

SHA-WA-NO'S.

The history of this once powerful tribe is so closely and necessarily con-
nected with that of the United States, and the revolutionary war, that it is
generally pretty well understood. This tribe formerly inhabited great parts
of the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, (and for the last sixty years,) a
part of the states of Ohio and Indiana, to which they had removed ; and
now, a considerable portion of them, a tract of country several hundred
miles West of the Mississippi, which has been conveyed to them by Govern-
ment in exchange for their lands in Ohio, from which it is expected the re-
mainder of the tribe will soon move. It has been said that this' tribe came
formerly from Florida, but 1 do not believe it. The mere fact, that there is

116

found ill East Florida a river by the name of Su wa-nee, which bears some
resemblance to Sha-wa-no, seems, as far as I can learn, to be the principal
evidence that has been adduced for the fact. They have evidently been
know^n, and that within the scope of our authenticated history, on the Atlantic
coast — on the Delaware and Chesapeak bays. And after that, have fought
their way against every sort of trespass and abuse — against the bayonet
and disease, through the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ohio, In-
diana, Illinois and Missouri, to their present location near the Kon-zas
River, at least 1500 miles from their native country.

This tribe and the Delawares, of whom I have spoken, were neighbours
on the Atlantic coast, and alternately allies and enemies, have retrograded
and retreated together — have fought their enemies united, and fought each
other, until their remnants that have outlived their nation's calamities, have
now settled as neighbours together in the Western wilds ; where, it is pro-
bable, the sweeping hand of death will soon relieve them from further
necessity of warring or moving ; and the Government, from the necessity or
policy of proposing to them a yet more distant home. In their long and
disastrous pilgrimage, both of these tribes laid claim to, and alternately
occupied the beautiful and renowned valley of Wy-6-ming ; and after strew-
ing the Susquehana's lovely banks with their bones, and their tumuli, they
both yielded at last to the dire necessity, which follows all civilized inter-
course with natives, and fled to the Alleghany, and at last to the banks of
the Ohio ; where necessity soon came again, and again, and again, until the
great " Guardian " of all "■red children" placed them where they now are.

There are of this tribe remaining about 1200 ; some few of whom are
agriculturists, and industrious and temperate, and religious people ; but the
greater proportion of them are miserably poor and dependent, having
scarcely the ambition to labour or to hunt, and a passion for whiskey-drink-
ing, that sinks them into the most abject poverty, as they will give the last
thing they possess for a drink of it.

There is not a tribe on the Continent whose history is more interesting
than that of the Shawanos, nor any one that has produced more extra-
ordinary men.

The great Tecumseh, whose name and history I can but barely allude to
at this time, was the chief of this tribe, and perhaps the most extraordinary
Indian of his age.

The present chief of the tribe Lay-law-she-kaw (he who goes up the
river, plate 211), is a very aged, but extraordinary man, with a fine and
intelligent head, and his ears slit and stretched down to his shoulders, a
custom highly valued in this tribe ; which is done by severing the rim of
the ear with a knife, and stretching it down by wearing heavy weights
attached to it at times, to elongate it as much as possible, making a large
orifice, through which, on parades, &c. they often pass a bunch of arrows or
(juill?, and wear them as ornaments.

117

la this instance (which was not an unusual one), the tims of the ears
were so extended down, that they touched the shoulders, making a ring
through which the whole hand could easily be passed. The daughter of
this old chief, Ka-te-qua (the female eagle, plate 212), was an agreeable-
looking girl, of fifteen years of age, and much thought of by the tribe.
Pah-te-coo-saw (the straight man, plate 213), a warrior of this tribe, has
distinguished himself by his exploits ; and when he sat for his picture, had
painted his face in a very curious manner with black and red paint.

Ten-squa-ta-way (the open door, plate 214), called the " Shaw7ice
Prophet" is perhaps one of the most remarkable men, who has flourished
on these frontiers for some time past. This man is brother of the famous
Tecumseh, and quite equal in his inedicines or mysteries, to what his brother
was in arms ; he was blind in his left eye, and in his right hand he was hold-
ing his " medicine Jire,^' and his " sacred string of beans" in the other.
With these mysteries he made his way through most of the North Western
tribes, enlisting warriors wherever he went, to assist Tecumseh in effecting
his great scheme, of forming a confederacy of all the Indians on the frontier,
to drive back the whites and defend the Indians' rights ; which he told them
could never in any other way be protected. His plan was certainly a correct
one, if not a very great one ; and his brother, the Prophet, exercised his
astonishing influence in raising men for him to fight his battles, and carry
out his plans. For this purpose, he started upon an embassy to the various
tribes on the Upper Missouri, nearly all of which he visited with astonishing
success; exhibiting his mystery fire, and using his sacred string of beans,
which every young man who was willing to go to war, was to touch ; thereby
taking the solemn oath to start when called upon, and not to turn back.

In this most surprising manner, this ingenious man entered the villages of
most of his inveterate enemies, and of others who never had heard of the
name of his tribe ; and manoeuvred in so successful a way, as to make
his medicines a safe passport for him to all of their villages ; and also the
means of enlisting in the different tribes, some eight or ten thousand warriors,
who had solemnly sworn to return with him on his way back ; and to assist
in the wars that Tecumseh was to wage against the whites on the frontier. I
found, on my visit to the Sioux — to the Puncahs, to the Riccarees and the
Mandans, that he had been there, and even to the Blackfeet; and every-
where told them of the potency of his mysteries, and assured them, that if they
allowed the fire to go out in their wigwams, it would prove fatal to them in
every case. He carried with him into every wigwam that he visited, the image
of a dead person of the size of life ; which was made ingeniously of some light
material, and always kept concealed under bandages of thin white muslin
cloths and not to be opened ; of this he made great mystery, and got his
recruits to swear by touching a sacred string of white beans, which he had
attached to its neck or some other way secreted about it. In this way, by
his extraordinary cunning, he had carried terror into the country as far as

118

he went ; and hafl actually enlisted some eight or ten thousand men, who
were sworn to follow him home ; and in a few days would have been on their
way with him, had not a couple of his political enemies in his own tribe, fol-
lowed on his track, even to those remote tribes, and defeated his plans, by
pronouncing him an impostor ; and all of his forms and plans an imposition
upon them, which they would be fools to listen to. In this manner, this
great recruiting officer was defeated in his plans, for raising an army of men
to fight his brother's battles ; and to save his life, he discharged his medi-
cines as suddenly as possible, and secretly travelled his way home, over
those vast regions, to his own tribe, where the death of Tecumseh, and the
opposition of enemies, killed all his splendid prospects, and doomed him to
live the rest of his days in silence, and a sort of disgrace ; like all men in
Indian communities who pretend to great medicine, in any way, and fail ; as
they all think such failure an evidence of the displeasure of the Great Spirit,
who always judges right.

This, no doubt, has been a very shrewd and influential man, but circum-
stances have destroyed him, as they have many other great men before him ;
and he now lives respected, but silent and melancholy in his tribe. 1 con-
versed with him a great deal about his brother Tecumseh, of whom he spoke
frankly, and seemingly with great pleasure ; but of himself and his own great
schemes, he would say nothing. He told me that Tecumseh's plans were
to embody all the Indian tribes in a grand confederacy, from the province of
Mexico, to the Great Lakes, to unite their forces in an army that would be
able to meet and drive back the white people, who were continually ad-
vancing on the Indian tribes, and forcing them from their lands towards the
Rocky Mountains — that Tecumseh was a great general, and that nothing
but his premature death defeated his grand plan.

The Shawanos, like most of the other remnants of tribes, in whose coun-
tries the game has been destroyed, and by the use of whiskey, have been
reduced to poverty and absolute want, have become, to a certain degree,
agriculturists; raising corn and beans, potatoes, hogs, horses, &c,, so as to be
enabled, if they could possess anywhere on earth, a country which they could
have a certainty of holding in perpetuity, as their own, to plant and raise
their own crops, and necessaries of life from the ground.

The Government have effected with these people, as with most of the
other dispersed tribes, an arrangement by which they are to remove West of
the Mississippi, to lands assigned them ; on which they are solemnly pro-
mised a home ybr ever ; the uncertain definition of which important word,
time and circumstances alone will determine.

Besides the personages whom I have above-mentioned, I painted the por-
traits of several others of note in the tribe ; and amongst them Lay-loo-ah-
pe-aishee-kaw (the grass-bush and blossom), whom I introduce in this place,
rather from the very handy and poetical name, than from any great personal
distinction known to have been acquired by him.

122

^. ;

' ,, ' '

...;■>

211

212

213

214

rdUrv.

119

The CHER-0-KEES,

Living in the vicinity of, and about Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas, and
700 miles west of the Mississippi river, are a third part or more of the
once very numerous and pov?erful tribe who inhabited and still inhabit, a
considerable part of the state of Georgia, and under a Treaty made with the
United States Government, have been removed to those regions, where
they are settled on a fine tract of country ; and having advanced some-
what in the arts and agriculture before they started, are now found to be
mostly living well, cultivating their fields of corn and other crops, which
they raise with great success.

Under a serious difficulty existing between these people (whom their for-
mer solemn Treaties with the United States Government, were acknowledged
\ free and independent nation, with powers to make and enforce their own
laws), and the state of Georgia, which could not admit such a Government
within her sovereignty, it was thought most expedient by the Government of
the United States, to propose to them, for the fourth or fifth time, to enter
into Treaty stipulations again to move; and by so doing to settle the difficult
question with the state of Georgia, and at the same time, to place them in
peaceable possession of a large tract of fine country, where they would for
ever be free from the continual trespasses and abuses which it was supposed
they would be subjected to, if they were to remain in the state of Georgia,
under the present difficulties and the high excited feelings which were then
existing in the minds of many people along their borders.

John Ross, a civilized and highly educated and accomplished gentleman,
who is the head-chief of the tribe, (plate 215), and several of his leading
subordinate chiefs, have sternly and steadily rejected the proposition of such
a Treaty ; and are yet, with a great majority of the nation remaining on their
own ground in the state of Georgia, although some six or 7000 of the tribe
have several years since removed to the Arkansas, under the guidance and con-
troul of an aged and dignified chief by the name of Jol-lee (plate 217).

This man, like most of the chiefs, as well as a very great proportion of
the Cherokee population, has a mixture of white and red blood in his veins,
of which, in this instance, the first seems decidedly to predominate. Another
chief, and second to this, amongst this portion of the Cherokees, by the
name of Teh-ke-neh-kee (the black coat), I have also painted and placed
in my Collection, as well as a very interesting specimen of the Cherokee
women (plate 216).

I have travelled pretty generally through the several different locations of
this interesting tribe, both in the Western and Eastern divisions, and have
found them, as well as the Choctaws and Creeks, their neighbours, very far
advanced in the arts; affbrding to the world the most satisfactory evidences
that are to be found in America, of the fact, that the Indian was not made
to shun and evade good example, and necessarily to live and die a brute,

120

as many speculating men would needs record them and treat them, until
they are robbed and trampled into the dust ; that no living evidences mighi
give the lie to their theories, or draw the cloak from their cruel and horrible
iniquities.

As I have repeatedly said to my readers, in the course of my former
epistles, that the greater part of my time would be devoted to the condition
and customs of the tribes that might be found in their primitive state, they
will feel disposed to pardon me for barely introducing the Cherokees, and
several others of these very interesting tribes, and leaving them and their cus-
toms and histories (which are of themselves enough for volumes), to the reader,
who is, perhaps, nearly as familiar as I am myself, with the full and fair ac-
counts of these people, who have had their historians and biographers.

The history of the Cherokees and other numerous remnants of tribes, who
are the exhabitants of the finest and most valued portions of the United
States, is a subject of great interest and importance, and has already been
woven into the most valued histories of the country, as well as forming-
material parts of the archives of the Government, which is my excuse for
barely introducing the reader to them, and beckoning him off again to the
native and untrodden wilds, to teach him something new and unrecorded.
Yet I leave the subject, as I left the people (to whom I became attached,
for their kindness and friendship), with a heavy heart, wishing them success
and the blessing of the Great Spirit, who alone can avert the doom that
would almost seem to be fixed for their unfortunate race.

The Cherokees amount in all to about 22,000, 16,000 of whom are yet
living in Georgia, under the Government of tlieir chief, .John Ross, whose
name I have before mentioned ; with this excellent man, who has been for
many years devotedly opposed to the Treaty stipulations for moving from
their country, I have been familiarly acquainted ; and, notwithstanding the
bitter invective and animadversions that have been by his political enemies
heaped upon him, I feel authorized, and bound, to testify to the unassuming
and gentlemanly urbanity of his manners, as well as to the rigid temperance
of his habits, and the purity of his language, in which I never knew him to
transgress for a moment, in public or private interviews.

At this time, the most strenuous endeavours are making on the part of
the Government and the state of Georgia, for the completion of an arrange-
ment for the removal of the whole of this tribe, as well as of the Clioctaws
and Seminoles ; and I have not a doubt of their final success, which seems,
from all former experience, to attend every project of the kind made by tlie
Government to their red children.*

* Since writing the above, the Government have succeeded in removing the remainder
of the Cherokees beyond the Mississippi, where they have taken up their residence along
side of their old friends, who emigrated several years since under Jol-lee, as I have before
mentioned. In the few years past, the Government has also succeeded in stipulating
with, and removing West of the Mississij pi, nearly every remnant-of tribes spoken of in

./ -Ki

215

216

217

218

G. CatLun,.

121

It is not for me to decide, nor in this place to reason, as to the justice or
injustice of the treatment of these people at the hands of the Government
or individuals ; or of the wisdom of the policy which is to place them in a
new, though vast and fertile country, 1000 miles from the land of their
birth, in the doubtful dilemma whether to break the natural turf with their
rusting ploughshares, or string their bows, and dash over the boundless
prairies, beckoned on by the alluring dictates of their nature, seeking laurels
amongst the ranks of their new enemies, and subsistence amongst the herds
of buffaloes.

Besides the Cberokees in Georgia, and those that I have spoken of in the
neighbourhood of Fort Gibson, there is another band or family of the same
tribe, of several hundreds, living on the banks of the Canadian river, an
hundred or more miles South West of Fort Gibson, under the Government
of a distinguished chief by the name of Tuch-ee (familiarly called by the
white people, " Dutch,'' plate 218). This is one of the most extraordinary
men that lives on the frontiers at the present day, both for his remarkable
history, and for his fine and manly figure, and character of face.

This man was in the employment of the Government as a guide and
hunter for the regiment of dragoons, on their expedition to the Camanchees,
where I had him for a constant companion for several months, and opportu-
nities in abundance, for studying his true character, and of witnessing his
wonderful exploits in the different varieties of the chase. The history of
this man's life has been very curious and surprising ; and I sincerely hope
that some one, with more leisure and more talent than myself, will take it
up, and do it justice. I promise that the life of ihis man furnishes the best
materials for a popular tale, that are now to be procured on the Western
frontier.

He is familiarly known, and much of his life, to all the officers who have been
stationed at Fort Gibson, or at any of the posts in that region of country.

Some twenty years or more since, becoming fatigued and incensed with
civilized encroachments, that were continually making on the borders of the
Cherokee country in Georgia, where he then resided, and probably, fore-
seemg the disastrous results they were to lead to, he beat up for volunteers
to emigrate to the West, where he had designed to go, and colonize in a wild
country beyond the reach and contamination of civilized innovations ; and
succeeded in getting several hundred men, women, and children, whom he led
over the banks of the Mississippi, and settled upon the head waters of White
River, where they lived until the appearance of white faces, which began to
peep through the forests at them, when they made another move of 600
miles to the banks of the Canadian, where they now reside ; and where, by

this and the two last Letters, so that there are at this time but a few hundreds of the red
men East of the Mississippi; and it is probable, that a few months more will eflfect the
removal of the remainder of them. See their present locations West of the Mississippi,
0/1 the map at the beginning of this Volume.

VOL, II. n.

122

the system ot desperate warfare, which he has co.rried on against the Osages
and the Camanchees, he has successfully cleared away from a large tract
of fine country, all the enemies that could contend for it, and now holds it,
with his little band of myrmidons, as their own undisputed soil, where they
are living comfortably by raising from the soil fine crops of corn and pota-
toes, and other necessaries of life ; whilst they indulge whenever they please,
in the pleasures of the chase amongst the herds of buffaloes, or in the
natural propensity for ornamenting their dresses and their war-clubs with
the scalp-locks of their enemies.

The creeks (or MUS-KO-GEES).

Of 20,000 in numbers, have, until quite recently, occupied an immense
tract of country in the states of Mississippi and Alabama ; but by a similar
arrangement (and for a similar purpose) with the Government, have ex-
changed their possessions there for a country, adjoining to the Cherokees,
on the South side of the Arkansas, to which they have already all removed,
and on which, like the Cherokees, they are laying out fine farms, and
building good houses, in which they live ; in many instances, surrounded
by immense fields of corn and wheat. There is scarcely a finer country on
earth than that now owned by the Creeks ; and in North America, certainly
no Indian tribe more advanced in the arts and agriculture than they are.
It is no uncommon thing to see a Creek with twenty or thirty slaves at work
on his plantation, having brought them from a slave-holding country, from
which, in their long journey, and exposure to white man's ingenuity, I ven-
ture to say, that most of them got rid of one-half of them, whilst on their
long and disastrous crusade.

The Creeks, as well as the Cherokees and Choctaws, have good schools
and churches established amongst them, conducted by excellent and pious
'»en, from whose example they are drawing great and lasting benefits.

In PLATES 219 and 220, I have given the portraits of two distinguished
men, and I believe, both chiefs. The first by the name of Stee-cha-co-me-co
(the great king), famiharly called " Ben Ferryman ;" and the other, Hol-te-

mal-te-tez-te-neehk-ee ( ), called " Sam Ferryman." These two men

are brothers, and are fair specimens of the tribe, who are mostly clad in
calicoes, and other cloths of civilized manufacture ; tasselled and fringed oft"
by themselves in the most fantastic way, and sometimes with much true and
picturesque taste . They use a vast many beads, and other trinkets, to hang
upon their necks, and ornament their moccasins and beautiful belts.

The choctaws.

Of fifteen thousand, are another tribe, removed from the Northern parts of
Alabama, and Mississippi, within the few years past, and now occupying a
large and rich tract ot country, South of the Arkansas and the Canadian

123

119

220

G.Ca&n.

221

■) •} '>

■«t

124

GCailxii

ITS

123

rivers ; adjoining to the country of the Creeks and the Cherokees, equally
civilized, and living much in the same manner.

In this tribe I painted the portrait of their famous and excellent chief, Mo-
sho-la-tub-bee (he who puts out and kills, plate 221), who has since died
of the small-pox. In the same plate will also be seen, the portrait of a dis-
tinguished and very gentlemanly man, who has been well-educated, and who
gave me much curious and valuable information, of the history and traditions
of his tribe. The name of this man, is Ha-tchoc-luck-nee (the snapping
turtle, PLATE 222), familiarly called by the whites ^^ Peter Pinchlin."

These people seem, even in their troubles, to be happy ; and have, like all
the other remnants of tribes, preserved with great tenacity their different
games, which it would seem they are everlastingly practicing for want of
other occupations or amusements in life. Whilst I was staying at the Choc-
taw agency in the midst of their nation, it seemed to be a sort of season of
amusements, a kind of holiday : when the wliole tribe almost, were assembled
around the establishment, and from day to day we were entertained with
some games or feats that were exceedingly amusing : horse-racing, dancing,
wrestling, foot-racing, and ball-playing, were amongst the most exciting ; and
of all the catalogue, the most beautiful, was decidedly that of ball-playing.
This wonderful game, which is the favourite one amongst all the tribes, and
with these Southern tribes played exactly the same, can never be appreciated
by those who are not happy enough to see it.

It is no uncommon occurrence for six or eight hundred or a thousand of
these young men, to engage in a game of ball, with five or six times that
number of spectators, of men, women and children, surrounding the ground,
and looking on. And I pronounce such a scene, with its hundreds of Nature's
most beautiful models, denuded, and painted of various colours, running and
leaping into the air, in all the most extravagant and varied forms, in the
desperate struggles for the ball, a school for the painter or sculptor, equal
to any of those which ever inspired the hand of the artist in the Olympian
games or the Roman forum.

1 have made it an uniform rule, whilst in the Indian country, to attend
every ball-play I could hear of, if I could do it by riding a distance of twenty or
thirty miles ; and my usual custom has been on such occasions, to straddle
the back of my horse, and look on to the best advantage. In this way I have
sat, and oftentimes reclined, and almost dropped from my horse's back, with
irresistible laughter at the succession of droll tricks, and kicks and scuffles
whicli ensue, in the almost superhuman struggles for the ball. These plays gene-
rally commence at nine o'clock, or near it, in the morning ; and I have more
than once balanced myself on ray pony, from that time till near sundown,
without more than one minute of intermission at a time, before the game has
been decided.

It is impossible for pen and ink alone, or brushes, or even with their com-
bined efforts, to give more than a caricature of such a scene ; but such as I

124

havp. been able to do, I have put upon the canvass, and in the slight outlines
which I have here attached in plates 224, 225, 226, taken from those
paintings, (for the colouring to v?hich the reader must look to my pen,) I
will convey as correct an account as I can, and leave the reader to imagine
the rest ; or look to other books for what I may have omitted.

While at the Choctaw agency it was announced, that there was to be a
great play on a certain day, within a few miles, on which occasion I attended,
and made the three sketches which are hereto annexed ; and also the follow-
ing entry in my note-book, which I literally copy out.

'* Monday afternoon at three, o'clock, I rode out with Lieutenants S. and
M., to a very pretty prairie, about six miles distant, to the ball -play-ground
of the Choctaws, where we found several thousand Indians encamped. There
were two points of timber about half a mile apart, in which the two parties
for the play, with their respective families and friends, were encamped ; and
lying between them, the prairie on which the game was to be played. My
companions and myself, although we had been apprised, that to see the
whole of a ball-play, we must remain on the ground all the night previous,
had brought nothing to sleep upon, resolving to keep our eyes open, and see
what transpired through the night. During the afternoon, we loitered about
amongst the diflFerent tents and shantees of the two encampments, and after-
wards, at sundown, witnessed the ceremony of measuring out the ground,
and erecting the " byes" or goals which were to guide the play. Each party
had their goal made with two upright posts, about 25 feet high and six feet
apart, set firm in the ground, with a pole across at the top. These goals
were about forty or fifty rods apart ; and at a point just half way between,
was another small stake, driven down, where the ball was to be thrown up
at the firing of a gun, to be struggled for by the players. All this prepara-
tion was made by some old men, who were, it seems, selected to be the
judges of the play, who drew a line from one bye to the other ; to which
directly came from the woods, on both sides, a great concourse of women
and old men, boys and girls, and dogs and horses, where bets were to be made
on the play. The betting was all done across this line, and seemed to be chiefly
left to the women, who seemed to have martialled out a little of everything
that their houses and their fields possessed. Goods and chattels — knives —
dresses — blankets — pots and kettles — dogs and horses, and guns ; and all
were placed in the possession of stake-holders, who sat by them, and watched
them on the ground all night, preparatory to the play.

The sticks with which this tribe play, are bent into an oblong hoop at the
end, with a sort of slight web of small thongs tied across, to prevent the ball
from passing through. The players hold one of these in each hand, and by
leaping into the air, they catch the ball between the two nettings and throw
it, without being allowed to strike it, or catch it in their hands.

The mode in which these sticks are constructed and used, will be seen in
the portrait of Tullock-chish-ko (he who drinks the juice of the stone), the

125

most distinguished ball-player of the Choctaw nation (plate 223), lepre-'
sented in his ball-play dress, with his ball-sticks in his hands. In every bail-
play of these people, it is a rule of the play, that no man shall wear mocca-
sins on his feet, or any other dress than his breech-cloth around his waist,
with a beautiful bead belt, and a " tail," made of white horsehair or quills,
and a " mane" on the neck, of horsehair dyed of various colours.

This game had been arranged and " made up," three or four months be-
fore the parties met to play it, and in the following manner : — The two
champions who led the two parties, and had the alternate choosing of the
players through the whole tribe, sent runners, with the ball-sticks most fan-
tastically ornamented with ribbons and red paint, to be touched by each one
of the chosen players ; who thereby agreed to be on the spot at the appointed
time and ready for the play. The ground having been all prepared and
preliminaries of the game all settled, and the bettings all made, and goods
all " staked," night came on without the appearance of any players on the
ground. But soon after dark, a procession of lighted flambeaux was seen
coming from each encampment, to the ground where the players assembled
around their respective byes ; and at the beat of the drums and chaunts of
the women, each party of players commenced the "ball-play dance" (plate
224). Each party danced for a quarter of an hour around their respective
byes, in their ball- play dress ; rattling their ball-sticks together in the most
violent manner, and all singing as loud as they could raise their voices;
whilst the women of each party, who had their goods at stake, formed into
two rows on the line between the two parties of players, and danced also, in
an uniform step, and all their voices joined in chaunts to the Great Spirit ;
in which they were soliciting his favour in deciding the game to their advan-
tage ; and also encouraging the players to exert every power they possessed,
in the struggle that was to ensue. In the mean time, four old medicine-men,
who were to have the starting of the ball, and who were to be judges of the
play, were seated at the point where the ball was to be started ; and busily
smoking to the Great Spirit for their success in judging rightly, and impar-
tially, between the parties in so important an affair.

This dance was one of the most picturesque scenes imaginable, and was
repeated at intervals of every half hour during the night, and exactly in the
same manner; so that the players were certainly awake all the night, and
arranged in their appropriate dress, prepared for the play which was to com-
mence at nine o'clock the next morning. In the morning, at the hour, the
two parties and all their friends, were drawn out and over the ground ; when
at length the game commenced, by the judges throwing up the ball at the
firing of a gun ; when an instant struggle ensued between the players, who
were some six or seven hundred in numbers, and were mutually endeavouring
to catch the ball in their sticks, and throw it home and between their respec-
tive stakes ; which, whenever successfully done, counts one for game. In this
game every player was dressed alike, that is, divested of all dress, except the

126

girdle and the tail, which 1 have before described ; and in these desperate
struggles for the ball, when it is up (plate 225, where hundreds are run-
ning together and leaping, actually over each other's heads, and darting
between their adversaries' legs, tripping and throwing, and foiling each other
in every possible manner, and every voice raised to the highest key, in shrill
yelps and barks) ! there are rapid successions of feats, and of incidents, that
astonish and amuse far beyond the conception of any one who has not had
the singular good luck to witness them. In these struggles, every mode if
used that can be devised, to oppose the progress of the foremost, who is likely
to get the ball ; and these obstructions often meet desperate individual resis-
tance, which terminates in a violent scuffle, and sometimes in fisticuffs ; when
their stricks are dropped, and the parties are unmolested, whilst they are set-
tling it between themselves ; unless it be by a general stampedo, to which
they are subject who are down, if the ball happens to pass in their direction.
Every weapon, by a rule of all ball-plays, is laid by in their respective en-
campments, and no man allowed to go for one ; so that the sudden broils
that take place on the ground, are presumed to be as suddenly settled with-
out any probability of much personal injury ; and no one is allowed to inter-
fere in any way with the contentious individuals.

There are times, when the ball gets to the ground (plate 226), and such
a confused mass rushing together around it, and knocking their sticks to-
gether, without the possibility of any one getting or seeing it, for the dust
that they raise, that the spectator loses his strength, and everything else but
his ser.ses ; when the condensed mass of ball-sticks, and shins, and bloody
noses, is carried around the different parts of the ground, for a quarter of
an hour at a time, without any one of the mass being able to see the ball ;
and which they are often thus scuffling for, several minutes after it has been
thrown off, and played over another part of the ground.

For each time that the ball was passed between the stakes of either party,
one was counted for their game, and a halt of about one minute ; when it
was again started by the judges of the play, and a similar struggle ensued;
and so on until the successful party arrived to 100, which was the limit of
the game, and accomplished at an hour's sun, when they took the stakes ;
and then, by a previous agreement, produced a number of jugs of whiskey,
which gave all a wholesome drink, and sent them all oflP merry and in good
humour, but not drunk.

After this exciting day, the concourse was assembled in the vicinity of
the agency house, wliere we had a great variety of dances and other
amusements; the most of which 1 have described on former occasions.
One, however, was new to me, and I must say a few words of it : this was
the Eugle Dance, a very pretty scene, which is got up by their young
men, in honour of that bird, for which they seem to have a religious
regard. This picturesque dance was given by twelve or sixteen men, whose
bodies were chiefly naked and painted white, with white clay, and eacb

IS'*"

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5-

127

one holding in his hand the tail of the eagle, while his head was also deco-
rated with an eagle's quill (plate 227). Spears were stuck in the ground,
around which the dance was performed by four men at a time, who had
simultaneously, at the beat of the drum, jumped up from the ground where
they had all sat in rows of four, one row immediately behind the other,
and ready to take the place of the first four when they left the ground
fatigued, which they did by hopping or jumping around behind the rest,
and taking their seats, ready to come up again in their turn, after each of
the other sets had been through the same forms.

In this dance, the steps or rather jumps, were diiferent from anything
I had ever witnessed before, as the dancers were squat down, with their
bodies almost to the ground, in a severe and most difficult posture, as will
have been seen in the drawing.

I have already, in a former Letter, while speaking of the ancient custom
of flattening the head, given a curious tradition of this interesting tribe,
accounting for their having come from the West, and I here insert another
or two, which I had, as well as the former one, from the lips of Peter
Pinchlin, a very intelligent and influential man in the tribe, of whom I have
spoken in page 123.

The Deluge. " Our people have always had a tradition of the Deluge,
which happened in this way : — there was total darkness for a great time over
the whole of the earth ; the Choctaw doctors or mystery-men looked out for
daylight for a long time, until at last they despaired of ever seeing it, and the
whole nation were very unhappy. At last a light was discovered in the
North, and there was great rejoicing, until it was found to be great mountains
of water rolling on, which destroyed them all, except a few families who
had expected it and built a great raft, on which they were saved."

Future State, *' Our people all believe that the spirit lives in a future
state — that it has a great distance to travel after death towards the West —
that it has to cross a dreadful deep and rapid stream, which is hemmed in
on both sides by high and rugged hills — over this stream, from hill to hill,
there lies a long and slippery pine-log, with the bark peeled off, over which
the dead have to pass to the delightful hunting-grounds. On the other side
of the stream there are six persons of the good hunting-grounds, with rocks
in their hands, which they throw at them all when they are on the middle
of the log. The good walk on safely, to the good hunting-grounds, where
there is one continual day — where the trees are always green — where the sky
has no clouds — where there are continual fine and cooling breezes — where
there is one continual scene of feasting, dancing and rejoicing — where there
is no pain or trouble, and people never grow old, but for ever live young and
enjoy the youthful pleasures.

"The wicked see the stones coming, and try to dodge, by which they fall
from the log, and go down thousands of feet to the water, which is dashing
over the rocks, and is stinking with dead fish, and animals, where they are

128

carried around and brought continually back to the same place in whirl-
pools— where the trees are all dead, and the waters are full of toads and
lizards, and snakes — where the dead are always hungry, and have nothing
to eat — are always sick, and never die — v/here the sun never shines, and
where the wicked are continually climbing up by thousands on the sides ot
a high rock from which they can overlook the beautiful country of the good
hunting-grounds, the place of the happy, but never can reach it."

Origm of the Craw-Jish band. " Our people have amongst them a band
•which is called, the Craw-Jish band. They formerly, but at a very remote
period, lived under ground, and used to come up out of the mud — they
were a species of craw-fish ; and they went on their hands and feet, and
lived in a large cave deep under ground, where there was no light for several
miles. They spoke no language at all, nor could they understand any.
The entrance to their cave was through the mud — and they used to run
down through that, and into their cave ; and thus, the Choctaws were for
a long time unable to molest them. The Choctaws used to lay and wait
for them to come out into the sun, where they would try to talk to them,
and cultivate an acquaintance.

" One day, a parcel of them were run upon so suddenly by the Choctaws,
that they had no time to go through the mud into their cave, but were
driven into it by another entrance, which they had through the rocks.
The Choctaws then tried a long time to smoke them out, and at last suc-
ceeded— they treated them kindly — taught them the Choctaw language —
taught them to walk on two legs — made them cut oft' their toe nails, and
pluck the hair from their bodies, after which they adopted them into their
nation' — and the remainder of them are living under ground to this day."

;

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129

LETTER— No. 50.

FORT SNELLING, FALL OF ST. ANTHONY.

Having recruited my health during the last winter, in recreation and
amusements on the Coast of Florida, like a bird of passage I started, at the
rallying notes of the swan and the wild goose, for the cool and freshness of
the North, but the gifted passengers soon left me behind. 1 found them
here, their nests built — their eggs hatched — their offspring fledged and
figuring in the world, before I arrived.

The majestic river from the Balize to the Fall of St. Anthony, I have
just passed over ; with a high-wrought mind filled with amazement and
wonder, like other travellers who occasionally leave the stale and profitless
routine of the " Fashionable Tour," to gaze with admiration upon the wild
and native grandeur and majesty of this great Western world. TheUpoer Mis-
sissippi, like the Upper Missouri, must be approached to be appreciated ; for
all that can be seen on the Mississippi below St. Louis, or for several hundred
miles above it, gives no hint or clue to the magnificence of the scenes which
are continually opening to the view of the traveller, and riveting him to the
deck of the steamer, through sunshine, lightning or rain, from the mouth of
the Ouisconsin to the Fall of St. Anthony.

The traveller in ascending the river, will see but little of picturesque
beauty in the landscape, until he reaches Rock Island ; and from that point
he will find it growing gradually more interesting, until he reaches Prairie
du Chien ; and from that place until he arrives at Lake Pepin, every reach
and turn in the river presents to his eye a more immense and magnificent
scene of grandeur and beauty. From day to day, the eye is riveted in list-
less, tireless admiration, upon the thousand bluffs which tower in majesty
above the river on either side, and alternate as the river bends, into countless
fascinating forms.

The whole face of the country is covered with a luxuriant growth of grass,
whether there is timber or not ; and the magnificent bluffs, studding the
sides of the river, and rising in the forms of immense cones, domes and ram-
parts, give peculiar pleasure, from the deep and soft green in which they are
clad up their broad sides, and to their extreme tops, with a carpet of grass,
with spots and clusters of timber of a deeper green ; and apparently in many
places, arranged in orchards and pleasure-grounds by the hands of art.

The scenes that are passed between Prairie du Chien and St. Peters, in-
cluding Lake Pepin, between whose magnificently turretted shores one passes
for twenty-two miles, will amply reward the tourist for the time and expense

VOL. II, a

130

of a visit to them. And to him or her of too little relish for Nature's rude
works, to profit as they pass, there will be found a redeeming pleasure
at the mouth of St. Peters and the Fall of St. Anthony. This scene has
often been described, and I leave it for the world to come and gaze upon
for themselves ; recommending to them at the same time, to denominate
the next " Fashionable Tour," a trip to St. Louis ; thence by steamer to Rock
Island, Galena, Dubuque, Prairie du Chien, Lake Pepin, St. Peters, Fail
of St. Anthony, back to Prairie du Chien, from thence to Fort Winnebago,
Green Bay, Mackinaw, Sault de St. Mary, Detroit, Buffalo, Niagara, and
home. This Tour would comprehend butasmall partofthe great "Far West;"
but it will furnish to the traveller a fair sample, and being a part of it
which is now made so easily accessible to the world, and the only part of
it to which ladies can have access, I would recommend to all who have time
and inclination to devote to the enjoyment of so splendid a Tour, to wait not,
but make it while the subject is new, and capable of producing the greatest
degree of pleasure. To the world at large, this trip is one of surpassing
interest — to the artist it has a double relish, and to me, still further induce-
ments ; inasmuch as, many of the tribes of Indians which I have met with,
furnish manners and customs which have awakened my enthusiasm, and
afforded me interesting materials for my Gallery.

To give to the reader a better idea of the character of the scenes which I
have above described, along the stately shores of the Upper Mississippi, I
have here inserted a river view taken about one hundred miles below this
place (plate 228) ; and another of " Dubuque's Grave" (plate 229),
about equi-distant between this and St. Louis ; and both fairly setting forth
the predominant character of the shores of the Upper Mississippi, which are
every where covered, as far as the eye can behold, with a green turf, and
occasional forest trees, as seen in the drawings.

Dubuque's Grave is a place of great notoriety on this river, in conse-
quence of its having been the residence and mining place of the first lead
mining pioneer of these regions, by the name of Dubuque, who held his
title under a grant from the Mexican Government (I think), and settled by
the side of this huge bluff, on the pinnacle of which he erected the tomb
to receive his own body, and placed over it a cross with his own inscription
on it. After his death, his body was placed within the tomb, at his request,
lying in state (and uncovered except with his winding-sheet), upon a large
flat stone, where it was exposed to the view, as his bones now are, to the
gaze, of every traveller who takes the pains to ascend this beautiful, grassy
and lilly-covered mound to ih ■ top, and peep through the gratings of two
little windows, which have admitted the eyes, but stopped the sacrilegious
hands of thousands who have taken a walk to it.

At the foot of this bluff, there is now an extensive smelting furnace,
where vast quantities of lead are melted from the ores which are dug out of
the hills in all directions about it.

129

229

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130

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131

The Fall of St. Anthony (plate 230), which is 900 miles above St.
Louis, is the natural curiosity of this country, and nine miles above the
mouth of St. Peters, from whence I am at this time writing. At this
place, on the point of land between the Mississippi and the St. Peters
rivers, the United States* Government have erected a strong Fort, which
has taken the name of Fort Snelling, from the name of a distinguished
and most excellent officer of that name, who superintended the building
of it. The site of this Fort is one of the most judicious that could have
been selected in the country, both for health and defence ; and being on
an elevation of 100 feet or more above the water, has an exceedinglv
bold and picturesque effect, as seen in plate 231,

This Fort is generally occupied by a regiment of men placed here to
keep the peace amongst the Sioux and Chippeways, who occupy the coun-
try about it, and also for the purpose of protecting the citizens on the frontier.
The Fall of St. Anthony is about nine miles above this Fort, and the
junction of the two rivers ; and, although a picturesque and spirited scene,
is but a pigmy in size to Niagara, and other cataracts in our country — the
actual perpendicular fall being but eighteen feet, though of half a mile or so
in extent, which is the width of the river ; with brisk and leaping rapids
above and below, giving life and spirit to the scene.

The Sioux who live in the vicinity of the Falls, and occupy all the country
about here. West of the Mississippi, are a part of the great tribe on the
Upper Missouri ; and the same in most of their customs, yet very dissimilar
in personal appearance, from the changes which civilized examples have
wrought upon them. 1 mentioned in a former Letter, that the country of
the Sioux, extended from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the banks of
the Mississippi ; and for the whole of that way, it is more or less settled by
this immense tribe, bounding the East side of their country by the Missis-
sippi River.

The Sioux in these parts, who are out of reach of the beavers and buf-
faloes, are poor and very meanly clad, compared to those on the Missouri,
■where they are in the midst of those and other wild animals, whose skins
supply them with picturesque and comfortable dresses. The same deterio-
ration also is seen in the morals and constitutions of these, as amongst all
other Indians, who live along the frontiers, in the vicinity of our settlements,
where whiskey is sold to them, and the small-pox and other diseases are
introduced to shorten their lives.

The principal bands of the Sioux that visit this place, and who live in the
vicinity of it, are those known as the Black Dog'o oand — Red Wing's band,
and Wa-be-sha's band ; each band known in common parlance, by the
name of its chief, as I have mentioned. The Black Dog's band reside but
a few miles above Fort Snelling, on the banks of the St. Peters, and num-
ber some five or six hundred. The Red Wing's band are at the head of
Lake Pepin, sixty miles below thi? lace on the West side of the river. And

132

Wa-be-sHa's band and village are some sixty or more miles below Luke
Pepin on the West side of the river, on a beautiful prairie, known (and
ever will be) by the name of " Wa-be-sha's prairie." Each of these bands,
and several others that live in this section of country, exhibit considerable
industry in their agricultural pursuits, raising very handsome corn-fields,
laying up their food, thus procured, for their subsistence during the long
and tedious winters.

The greater part of the inhabitants of these bands are assembled here
at this time, affording us, who are visitors here, a fine and wild scene of
dances, amusements, &c. They seem to take great pleasure in " showing
off" in these scenes, to the amusement of the many fashionable visitors,
both ladies and gentlemen, who are in the habit of reaching this post, as
steamers are arriving at this place every week in the summer from St. Louis.

Many of the customs of these people create great surprise in the minds
of the travellers of the East, who here have the first satisfactory opportunity of
seeing them ; and none, I observe, has created more surprise, and pleasure
also, particularly amongst the ladies, than the mode of carrying their infants,
slung on their backs, in their beautifully ornamented cradles.

The custom of carrying the child thus is not peculiar to this tribe, but
belongs alike to all, as far as I have yet visited them ; and also as far as I
have been able to learn from travellers, who have been amongst tribes that
1 have not yet seen. The child in its earliest infancy, has its back lashed
to a straight board, being fastened to it by bandages, which pass around it
in front, and on the back of the board they are tightened to the necessary
degree by lacing strings, which hold it in a straight and healthy position,
with its feet resting on a broad hoop, which passes around the foot of the
cradle, and the child's position (as it rides about on its mother's back, sup-
ported by a broad strap that passes across her forehead), that of standing
erect, which, no doubt, has a tendency to produce straight limbs, sound
lungs, and long life. In plate 232, letter a, is a correct drawing of a
Sioux cradle, which is in my Collection, and was purchased from a Sioux
woman's back, as she was carrying her infant in it, as is seen in letter d of
the same plate.

In this instance, as is often the case, the bandages that pass around the
cradle, holding the child in, are all the way covered with a beautiful em-
broidery of porcupine quills, with ingenious figures of horses, men, &c. A
broad hoop of elastic wood passes around in front of the child's face, to
protect it in case of a fall, from the front of which is suspended a little toy
of exquisite embroidery, for the child to handle and amuse itself with. To
this and other little trinkets hanging in front of it, there are attached many
httle tinselled and tinkling things, of the brightest colours, to amuse both
the eyes and the ears of the child. Whilst travelling on horseback, the
arms of the child are fastened under the bandages, so as not to be endan-
gered if the cradle falls ; and when at rest, they are generally taken out.

_/.■? L

fli 'f' 'it

G.Caiurv

232

133

allowing the infant to reach and amuse itself with the littb toys and trinkets
that are placed before it, and within its reach. This seems like a cruel
mode, but I am inclined to believe that it is a very good one for the people
who use it, and well adapted to the circumstances under which they live ;
in support of which opinion, I offer the universality of the custom, which
has been practiced for centuries amongst all the tribes of North America,
as a legitimate and very strong reason. It is not true that amongst all the
tribes the cradle will be found so much ornamented as in the present in-
stance ; but the model is essentially the same, as well as the mode of carry-
ing it.

Along the frontiers, where the Indians have been ridiculed for the custom,
as they are for everything that is not civil about them, they have in many
instances departed from it ; but even there, they will generally be seen lug-
ging their child about in this way, when they have abandoned almost
every other native custom, and are too poor to cover it with more than rags
and strings, which fasten it to its cradle.

The infant is carried in this manner until it is five, six or seven months
old, after which it is carried on the back, in the manner represented in two
of the figures of the same plate, and held within the folds of the robe or
blanket.

The modes of carrying the infant when riding, are also here shewn, and
tlie manner in which the women ride, which, amongst all the tribes, is
astride, in the same manner as that practiced by the men.

Letter b in the same plate is a mourning cradle, and opens to the view of
the reader another very curious and interesting custom. If the infant dies
during the time that is allotted to it to be carried in this cradle, it is buried,
and the disconsolate mother fills the cradle with black quills and feathers, in
the parts which the child's body had occupied, and in this way carries it
around with her wherever she goes for a year or more, with as much care
as if her infant were alive and in it ; and she often lays or stands it leaning
against the side of the wigwam, where she is all day engaged in her needle-
work, and chatting and talking to it as familiarly and affectionately as if it
were her loved infant, instead of its shell, that she was talking to. So lasting
and so strong is the affection of these women for the lost child, that it mat-
ters not how heavy or cruel their load, or how rugged the route they have
to pass over, they will faithfully carry this, and carefully from day to day,
and even more strictly perform their duties to it, than if the child were alive
and in it.

In the little toy that I have mentioned, and which is suspended before
the child's face, is carefully and superstitiously preserved the umbilicus, which
is always secured at the time of its birth, and being rolled up into a little wad of
the size of a pea, and dried, it is enclosed in the centre of this little bag, and
placed before the child's face, as its protector and its security for " good luck'"'
and long life. Letter c, same plate, exhitits a number of forms and different

134

tastes of several of these little toys, which I have purchased from the women,
which they were very willing to sell for a trifling present; but in every instance,
they cut them open, and removed from within a bunch of cotton or moss, the
little sacred medicine, which, to part with, would be to " endanger the health
of the child" — a thing that no consideration would have induced them in
anv instance to have done.

My bruijh has been busily employed at this place, as in others ; and amongst
the dignitaries that I have painted, is, first and foremost, Wa-nah-de-tunck-a
the big eagle), commonly called the " Black Dog" (plate 234). This is a very
noted man, and chief of the 0-hah-kas-ka-toh-y -an-te (long avenue) band.

By the side of him Toh-to-wah-kon-da-pee {the blue medicine — plate233),
a noted medicine-man, of theTing-tah-to-a band ; with his medicine or mystery
drum, made of deer-skins; and his mystery rattles made of antelopes' hoofs,
in his hands. This notorious old man was professionally a doctor in his tribe,
but not very distinguished, until my friend Dr. Jarvis, vpho is surgeon for
the post, very liberally dealt out from the public medicine-chest, occasional
" odds and ends" tohim, and with a professional concern for the poor old
fellow's success, instructed him in the modes of their application ; since
which, the effects of his prescriptions have been so decided amongst his
tribe, whom he holds in ignorance of his aid in his mysterious operations ;
that he has risen quite rapidly into notice, within the few last years, in
the vicinity of the Fort ; where he finds it most easy to carry out his new
mode of practice, for reasons above mentioned.

In PLATES 235 and 236, there are portraits of .the two most distinguished
ball-players in the Sioux tribe, whose names are Ah-no-je-nahge (he who
stands on both sides), and We-chush-ta-doo-ta (the red man). Both of
these young men stood to me for their portraits, in the dresses precisely in
which they are painted ; with their ball-sticks in their hands, and in the
attitudes of the play. We have had several very spirited plays here within
the few past days ; and each of these young men came from the ball-play
ground to my painting-room, in the dress in which they had just struggled
in the play.

Tt will be seen by these sketches, that the custom in this tribe, differs in
some respects from that of the Choctaws and other Southern tribes, of which
I have before spoken ; and I there showed that they played with a stick in
each hand, when the Sioux use but one stick, which is generally held in
both hands, with a round hoop at the end, in which the ball is caught and
thrown with wonderful tact ; a much more difficult feat, I should think, than
that of the Choctaws, who catch the ball between two sticks. The tail also,
in this tribe, differs, inasmuch as il is generally made of quills, instead of
white horsehair, a? described amongst the Choctaws. In other respects, the
rules and manner of the game are the same as amongst those tribes.

Several others of the distingues of the tribe, I have also painted here, and
must needs refer the reader to the Museum for further information of them.

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135

LETTER— No. 51.

FORT SNELLING, FALL OF ST. ANTHONY.

The fourth of July was hailed and celebrated by us at this place, in an
urusual, and not uninteresting manner. With the presence of several hun-
dreds of the wildest of the Chippeways, and as many hundreds of the Sioux;
we were prepared with material in abundance for the novel — for the wild
and grotesque, — as well as for the grave and ludicrous. Major TalliaHerro,
the Indian agent, to aid my views in procuring sketches of manners and
customs, represented to them that I was a great medicine-man, who had
visited, and witnessed the sports of, a vast many Indians of different tribes,
and had come to see whether the Sioux and Chippeways were equal in a
ball-play, &c. to their neighbours ; and that if they would come in on tlie
next day (fourth of July), and give us a ball-play, and some of their dances,
in their best style, he would have the big gun fired twenty-one times (the
customary salute for that day), which they easily construed into a high com-
pliment to themselves. This, with siill stronger inducements, a barrel of
flour — a quantity of pork and tobacco, which I gave them, brought the
scene about on the day of independence, as follows : — About eleven o'clock
(the usual time for 'Indians to make their appearance on any great occasion),
the young men, who were enlisted for ball-play, made their appearance on
the ground with ball-sticks in hand — with no other dress on than the flap,
and attached to a girdle or ornamental sash, a tail, extending nearly to the
ground, made of the choicest arrangement of quills and feathers, or of the
hair of white horses' tails. After an excited and warmly contested play of
two hours, they adjourned to a place in front of the agent's office, where
they entertained us for two or three hours longer, with a continued variety
of their most fanciful and picturesque dances. They gave us the beggars
dance — the buffalo-dance — the bear-dance — the eagle-dance — and dance of
the braves. This last is peculiarly beautiful, and exciting to the feelings in
the highest degree.

At intervals they stop, and one of them steps into the ring, and voci-
ferates as loud as possible, with the most significant gesticulations, the feats
of bravery which he has performed during his life — he boasts of the scalps
lie has taken — of the enemies he has vanquished, and at the same time
carries his body through all the motions and gestures, which have been used

13G

during these scenes when they were transacted. At the end of -his boasting,
all assent to the truth of his story, and give in their approbation by the
guttural ''waugh /" and the dance again commences. At the next interval,
another makes his boasts, and another, and another, and so on.

During this scene, a little trick was played off in the following manner,
which produced much amusement and laughter. A woman of goodly size,
and in woman's attire, danced into the ring (which seemed to excite some
surprise, as women are never allowed to join in the dance), and commenced
" sawing the air," and boasting of the astonishing feats of bravery she had
performed — of the incredible number of horses she had stolen — of the scalps
she had taken, &c. &c. ; until her feats surpassed all that had ever been
heard of — sufficient to put all the warriors who had boasted, to the blush.
They all gave assent, however, to what she had said, and apparently credence
too ; and to reward so extraordinary a feat of female prowess, they presented
to her a kettle, a cradle, beads, ribbons, &c. After getting her presents,
and placing them safely in the hands of another matron for safe keeping, she
commenced disrobing herself; and, almost instantly divesting herself of a
loose dress, in the presence of the whole company, came out in a soldier s
coat and pantaloons ! and laughed at them excessively for their mistake !
She then commenced dancing and making her boasts of her exploits, assur-
ing them that she was a man, and a great brave. They all gave unqualified
assent to this, acknowledged their error, and made her other presents of a
gun, a horse, of tobacco, and a war-club. After her boasts were done, and
the presents secured as before, she deliberately threw off the pantaloons and
coat, and presented herself at once, and to their great astonishment and con-
fusion, in a beautiful woman's dress. The tact with which she performed these
parts, so uniformity pleased, that it drew forth thundering applause from the
Indians, as well as from the spectators ; and the chief stepped up and
crowned her head with a beautiful plume of the eagle's quill, rising from a
crest of the swan's down. My wife, who was travelling this part of the
country with me, was a spectator of these scenes, as well as the ladies and
officers of the garrison, whose polite hospitality we are at this time enjoying.

Several days after this, the plains of St. Peters and St. Anthony, rang
with the continual sounds of drums and rattles, in time with the thrilling yells
of the dance, until it had doubly ceased to be novelty. General Patterson,
of Philadelphia, and his family arrived about this time, however, and a dance
was got up for their amusement; and it proved to be one of an unusual
kind, and interesting to all. Considerable preparation was made for the
occasion, and the Indians informed me, that if they could get a couple of
dogs that were of no use about the garrison, they would give us their favour-
ite, the ^'^dog dance." The two dogs were soon produced by the officers,
and in presence of the whole assemblage of spectators, they butchered thenx
and placed their two hearts and livers entire and uncooked, on a couple of
crotches about as high as a man's face (plate 237). These were then

I >\ I

137

cut into strips, about an inch in width, and left hanging in tliis condition,
with the blood and smoke upon them. A spirited dance then ensued ; and^
in a confused manner, every one sung forth his own deeds of bravery in
ejaculatory gutturals, which were almost deafening ; and they danced up,
two at a time to the stakes, and after spitting several times upon the liver and
hearts, catched a piece in their mouths, bit it off, and swallowed it. This
was all done without losing the step (which was in time to their music), or
interrupting the times of their voices.

Each and every one of them in this wise bit off and swallowed a piece of
the livers, until they were demolished ; with the exception of the two last
pieces hanging on the stakes, which a couple of them carried in their mouths,
and communicated to the mouths of the two musicians who swallowed them.
This is one of the most valued dances amongst the Sioux, though by no
means the most beautiful or most pleasing. The beggar's dance, the discovery
dance, and the eagle dance, are far more graceful and agreeable. The
dog dance is one of distinction, inasmuch as it can only be danced by those
who have taken scalps from the enemy's heads, and come forward boasting,
that they killed their enemy in battle, and swallowed a piece of his heart in
the same manner.

As the Sioux own and occupy all the country on the West bank of the
river in this vicinity ; so do the Chippeways claim all lying East, from the
mouth of the Chippeway River, at the outlet of Lake Pepin, to the source of
the Mississippi ; and within the month past, there have been one thousand or
more of them encamped here, on business with the Indian agent and Sioux,
with whom they have recently had some difficulty. These two hostile foes,
who have, time out of mind, been continually at war, are now encamped
here, on different sides of the Fort ; and all difficulties having been arranged
by their agent, in whose presence they have been making their speeches, for
these two weeks past, have been indulging in every sort of their amusements,
uniting in their dances, ball-plays and other games; and feasting and
smoking together, only to raise the war-cry and the tomahawk again, when
they get upon their hunting grounds.

Major Talliafferro is the Government agent for the Sioux at this place, and
furnishes the only instance probably, of a public servant on these frontiers,
who has performed the duties of his office, strictly and faithfully, as well as
kindly, for fifteen years. The Indians think much of him, and call him
Great Father, to whose advice they listen with the greatest attention.

The encampment of the Chippeways, to which I have been a daily visitor,
was built in the manner seen in plate 238 ; their wigwams made of birch
bark, covering the frame work, which was of slight poles stuck in the ground,
and bent over at the top, so as to give a rooflrke shape to the lodge, best
calculated to ward off rain and winds.

Through this curious scene 1 was siroUing a few days since with my wife,
and I observed the Indian women gathering around her, anxious to shake

VOL. II. ■ T

138

hands with her, and shew her their children, of which she took especial
notice ; and they literally filled her hands and hei arms, with muk-kuks of
maple sugar which they manufacture, and had brought in, in great quantities
for sale.

After the business and amusements of this great Treaty between the Chip-
peways and Sioux were all over, the Chippeways struck their tents by taking
them down and rolling up their bark coverings, which, with their bark
canoes seen in the picture, turned up amongst their wigwams, were carried to
the water's edge ; and all things being packed in, men, women, dogs, and all,
were swiftly propelled by paddles to the Fall of St. Anthony, where we had
repaired to witness their mode of passing the cataract, by " making (as it is
called) the portage," which we found to be a very curious scene ; and was
done by running all their canoes into an eddy below the Fall, and as near
as they could get by paddling ; when all were landed, and every thing taken
out of the canoes (plate 239), and with them carried by the women, around
the Fall, and half a mile or so above, where the canoes were pjit into the
water again ; and goods and chattels being loaded in, and all hands seated,
the paddles were again put to work, and the light and bounding crafts upon
their voyage.

The bark canoe of the Chippeways is, perhaps, the most beautiful and
light model of all the water crafts that ever were invented. They are gene-
rally made complete with the rind of one birch tree, and so ingeniously
shaped and sewed together, with roots of the tamarack, which they call
wat-tap, that they are water-tight, and ride upon the water, as light as a cork.
They gracefully lean and dodge about, under the skilful balance of an In-
dian, or the ugliest squaw ; but like everything wild, are timid and trea-
cherous under the guidance of white man ; and, if he be not an experienced
equilibrist, he is sure to get two or three times soused, in his first endeavours
at familiar acquaintance with them. In plate 240, letter a, the reader will
see two specimens of these canoes correctly drawn ; where he can contrast
them and their shapes, with the log canoe, letter b, (or " dug out," as it is
often called in the Western regions) of the Sioux, and many other tribes ;
which is dug out of a solid log, with great labour, by these ignorant people,
who have but few tools to work with.

In the same plate, letter c, I have also introduced the skin canoes of the
Mandans, (of the Upper Missouri, of whom I have spoken in Volume I),
which are made almost round like a tub, by straining a buffalo's skin over a
frame of wicker work, made of willow or other boughs. The woman in
paddling these awkward tubs, stands in the bow, and makes the stroke
with the paddle, by reaching it forward in the water and drawing it to her, by
which means she t)u1Is the canoe along with some considerable speed. These
very curious anii rudely constructed canoes, are made in the form of the
Welsh coracle ; aad, if I mistake not, propelled in the same manner, whicli
is a very curious ircumstance ; inasmuch as they are found in the heart of

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238

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G Gitim/.

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136

G Ca^jfi,

240

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139

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the great wilderness of America, when all the other surroundU^^ribes
construct their canoes in decidedly different forms, and of different ma-
terials.

In the same plate, letter cf. is a pair of Sioux (and in letter e, of Chippe-
, way) snow shoes, which are used in the deep snows of the winter, under the
Indians' feet, to buoy him up as he runs in pursuit of his game. The hoops
or frames of these are made of elastic, wood, and the webbing, of strings of
rawhide, which form such a resistance to the snow, as to carry them over
without sinking into it; and enabling them to come up with their game,
which is wallowing through the drifts, and easily overtaken ; as in the buf-
falo hunt, in plate 109, Volume I.

Of the portraits of chiefs and others I have painted amongst the Chippe-
ways at this place, two distinguished young men will be seen in plates
241, 242. The first by the name of Ka-bes-kunk (he who travels every-
where), the other, Ka-be-mub-be (he who sits everywhere), both painfed at
full length, in full dress, and just as they were adorned and equipped, even
to a quill and a trinket.

The first of these two young men is, no doubt, one of the most remark-
able of his age to be found in the tribe. Whilst he was standing for his
portrait, which was in one of the officer's quarters in the Fort, where there
were some ten or fifteen of his enemies the Sioux, seated on the floor around
the room ; he told me to take particular pains in representing eight quills
which were arranged in his head-dress, which he said stood for so many
Sioux scalps that he had taken with his left hand, in which he was grasping
h's war-club, with which hand he told me he was in the habit of makmg all
his blows.

In PLATE 244, is the portrait of a warrior by the name of Ot-ta-wa (the

otaway), with his pipe in his hand ; and in plate 245, the portrait

of a Chippeway woman, Ju-ah-kis-f/uw, with her child in its crib or cradle.
In a former Letter I gave a minute account of the Sioux cradle, and here
the reader sees the very similar mode amongst the Chippeways : and as in
all instances that can be found, the ni-ahkust-ahg (or umbilicus) hanging
before the child's face for its supernatural protector.

This woman's dress was mostly made of civilized manufactures, but curi-
ously decorated and ornamented according to Indian taste

Many were the dances given to me on different places, of which I may
make further use and further mention on future occasions : but of which I
shall name but one at present, the snow-shoe dance (plate 243), which
is exceedingly picturesque, being danced with the snow shoes under the feet,
at the falling of the first snow in the beginning of winter ; when they sing a
song of thanksgiving to the Great Spirit for sending them a retu-n of snow,
when they can run on their snow shoes in their valued hunts and easilj
take the game for their food.

140

About this lovely spot I have whiled away a few months with great plea-
sure, and having visited all the curiosities, and all the different villages of
Indians in the vicinity, I close my note-book and start in a few days for
Prairie du Chien, which is 300 miles below this ; where I shall have new
subjects for my brush and new themes for my pen, when I may continue my
epistles. Adieu.

CO
CM

141

letter—No. 52.

CAMP DES MOINES.

Soon after the date of my last Letter, written at St. Peters, having placed
my wife on board of the steamer, with a party of ladies, for Prairie du Chien,
I embarked in a light bark canoe, on my homeward course, with only one
companion, Corporal Allen, from the garrison ; a young man of considerable
taste, who thought he could relish the transient scenes of a voyage in com-
pany with a painter, having gained the indulgence of Major Bliss, the com-
manding officer, with permission to accompany me.

With stores laid in for a ten days' voyage, and armed for any emergency
—with sketch-book and colours prepared, we shoved ofF and swiftly glided
away with paddles nimbly plied, resolved to see and relish every thing
curious or beautiful that fell in our way. We lingered along, among the
scenes of grandeur which presented themselves amid the thousand bluffs,
and arrived at Prairie du Chien in about ten days, in good plight, without
accident or incident of a thrilling nature, with the exception of one instance
which happened about thirty miles below St. Peters, and on the first day of
our journey. In the after part of the day, we discovered three lodges of
Sioux Indians encamped on the bank, all hallooing and waving their blankets
for us to come in, to the shore. We had no business with them, and resolved
to keep on onr course, when one of them ran into his lodge, and coming out
with his gun in his hand, levelled it at us, and gave us a charge of buck-shot
about our ears. Orle of them struck in my canoe, passing through several folds
of my cloak, which was folded, and lying just in front of my knee, and
several others struck so near on each side as to spatter the water into our
faces. There was no fun in this, and I then ran my canoe to the shore as
fast as possible— they all ran, men, women, and children, to the water's
edge, meeting us with yells and laughter as we landed. As the canoe struck
the shore, I rose violently from my seat, and throwing all the infuriated
demon I could into my face — thrusting my pistols into my belt — a half
dozen bullets into my mouth — and my double-barrelled gun in my hand
— I leaped ashore and chased the lot of them from the beach, throwing
myself, by a nearer route, between them and their wigwams, where I kept
them for some time at a stand, with my barrels presented, and threats
(corroborated with looks which they could not misunderstand) that I would

142

annihilate the whole of them in a minute. As the gun had been returned to
the lodge, and the man who fired it could not be identified, the rascal's life
was thereby probably prolonged. We stood for some time in this position,
and no explanation could be made, other than that which could be read from
the lip and the brow, a language which is the same, and read alike, among
all nations. I slipped my sketch-book and pencil into my hand, and under
the muzzle of my gun, each fellow stood for his likeness, which I made them
understand, by signs, were to be sent to *' Muzzabucksa" (iron cutter), the
name they gave to Major TalliafFerro, their agent at St. Peters.

This threat, and the continued vociferation of the corporal from the canoe,
that I was a " Grande Capitaine," seemed considerably to alarm them. I at
length gradually drew myself off, but with a lingering eye upon the sneaking
rascals, who stood in sullen silence, with one eye upon me, and the other
upon the corporal ; who I found had held them at bay from the bow of his
canoe, with his musket levelled upon them — ^his bayonet fixed — his cartouch
box slung, with one eye in full blaze over the barrel, and the other drawn
down within two parts of an inch of the upper corner of his mouth. At my
approach, his muscles were gradually (but somewhat reluctantly) relaxed.
We seated ourselves, and quietly dipped our paddles again on our way.

Some allowance must be made for this outrage, and many others that
could be named, that have t.aken place amongst that part of the Sioux
nation ; they have been for many years past made drunkards, by the solici-
tations of white men, and then abused, and their families also ; for which,
when they are drunk (as in the present instance), they are often ready, and
disposed to retaliate and to return insult for injuries.

We went on peaceably and pleasantly during the rest of our voyage,
having ducks, deer, and bass for our game and our food ; our bed was
generally on the grass at the foot of some towering bluff, where, in the
melancholy stillness of night, we were lulled to sleep by the liquid notes of
the whip-poor-will ; and after his warbling ceased, roused by the mournful
complaints of the starving wolf, or surprised by the startling interrogation,
" who ! who ! who !" by the winged monarch of the dark.

There is a something that fills and feeds the mind of an enthusiastic man,
when he is thrown upon natural resources, amidst the rude untouched scenes
of nature, which cannot be described ; and I leave the world to imagine the
feelings of pleasure with which I found myself again out of the din of artful
life, among scenes of grandeur worthy the whole soul's devotion, and
admiration.

When the morning's dew was shaken off, our coffee enjoyed — our light
bark again launched upon the water, and the chill of the morning banished
by the quick stroke of the paddle, and the busy chaunt of the corporal's
boat-song, our ears and our eyes were open to the rude scenes of romance
that were about us — our light boat ran to every ledge — dodged into every
slough oi cut-off" to be seen — every mineral was examined — every cave ex-

140

24:8

(j. (jutJjjii

'Z4-9

143

plored — and almost every bluff of grandeur ascended to the top. These
towering edifices of nature, which will stand the admiration of thousands
and tens of thousands, unchanged and unchangeable, though grand and
majestic to the eye of the passing traveller, will be found to inspire new
ideas of magnitude when attempted to be travelled to the top. From the
tops of many of them I have sketched for the information of the world, and
for the benefit of those who travel much, I would recommend a trip to the
summit of "Pike's Tent" (the highest bluff on the river), 100 miles above
Prairie du Chien ; to the top also of " La Montaigne qui tromps a I'eau" — the
summit of Bad Axe Mountain — and a look over Lake Pepin's turretted
shores from the top of the bluff opposite to the " Lover's Leap," being the
highest on the lake, and the point from which the greater part of its shores
can be seen.

Along the shores of this beautiful lake we lingered for several days, and
our canoe was hauled a hundred times upon the pebbly beach, where we
spent hours and days, robbing it of its precious gems, which are thrown up
by the waves. We found many rich agates, carnelians, jaspers, and por-
phyrys. The agates are many of them peculiarly beautiful, most of them
water-waved — their colours brilliant and beautifully striated. " Point aux
Sables" has been considered the most productive part of the lake for these
gems ; but owing to the frequent landings of the steam-boats and other craft
on that point, the best specimens of them have been picked up ; and the
traveller will now be best remunerated for his trouble, by tracing the shore
around into some of its coves, or on some of its points less frequented by
the footsteps of man.

The Lover's Leap (plate 248), is a bold and projecting rock, of six or
seven hundred feet elevation on the East side of the lake, from the sum-
mit of which, it is said, a beautiful Indian girl, the daughter of a chief,
threw herself off in presence of her tribe, some fifty years ago, and dashed
herself to pieces, to avoid being married to a man whom her father had
decided to be her husband, and whom she would not marry. On our way,
after we had left the beautiful shores of Lake Pepin, we passed the magni-
ficent bluff called " Pike's Tent" (plate 249), and undoubtedly, the
highest eminence on the river, running up in the form of a tent ; from which
circumstance, and that of having first been ascended by Lieutenant Pike,
it has taken the name of Pike's Tent, which it will, doubtless, for ever retain.

The corporal and I run our little craft to the base of this stupendous
pyramid, and spent half a day about its sides and its pinnacle, admiring the
lovely and almost boundless landscape that lies beneath it.

To the top of this grass-covered mound I would advise every traveller in
the country, who has the leisure to do it, and sinew enough in his leg, to
stroll awhile, and enjoy what it may be difficult for him to see elsewhere.

" Cap au I'ail" (Garlic Cape, plate 250), about twenty miles above
Prairie du Chien is another beautiful scene — and the *' Cornice Rocks"

144

(plate 251), on the West bank, where my little bark rested two days, till
the corporal and I had taken bass from every nook and eddy about them,
where our hooks could be dipped. To the lover of fine fish, and fine sport
in fishing, I would recommend an encampment for a few days on this pic-
turesque ledge, where his appetite and his passion will be soon gratified.

Besides these picturesque scenes, I made drawings also of all the Indian
villages on the way, and of many other interesting points, which are curious
in my Collection, but too numerous to introduce in this place.

In the midst, or half-way of Lake Pepin, which is an expansion of the
river of four or five miles in width, and twenty-five miles in length, the
corporal and I hauled our canoe out upon the beach of Point aux Sables,
where we spent a couple of days, feasting on plums and fine fish and wild fowl,
and filling our pockets with agates and carnelions we were picking up along
the pebbly beach ; and at last, started on our way for the outlet of the
lake, with a fair North West wind, which wafted us along in a delightful
manner, as I sai in the stern and steered, while the corporal was " catching
the breeze" in a large umbrella, which he spread open and held in the bow.
We went merrily and exultingly on in this manner, until at length the wind
increased to anything but a gale ; and the waves were foaming white, and
dashing on the shores where we could not land without our frail bark being
broken to pieces. We soon became alarmed, and saw that our only safety
was in keeping on the course that we were running at a rapid rate, and that
with our sail full set, to brace up and steady our boat on the waves, while
we kept within swimming distance of the shore, resolved to run into the
first cove, or around the first point we could find for our protection.
We kept at an equal distance from the shore — arfd in this most critical
condition, the wind drove us ten or fifteen miles, without a landing-place,
till we exultingly steered into the mouth of the Chippeway river, at the
outlet of the lake, where we soon found quiet and safety ; but found our
canoe in a sinking condition, being half full of water, and having three of
the five of her beams or braces broken out, with which serious disasters, a
few rods more of the fuss and confusion would have sent us to the bottom.
We here laid by part of a day, and having repaired our disasters, wended
our way again pleasantly and successfully on.

At Prairie du Chien, which is near the mouth of the Ouisconsin River,
and 600 miles above St. Louis, where we safely landed my canoe, I found
my wife enjoying the hospitality of Mrs. Judge Lockwood, who had been a
schoolmate of mine in our childhood, and is now residing with her interesting
family in that place. Under her hospitable roof we spent a few weeks with
great satisfaction, after which my wife took steamer for Dubuque, and I took
to my little bark canoe alone (having taken leave of the corporal), which 1
paddled to this place, quite leisurely — cooking my own meat, and having
uiy own fun as I passed along.

Prairie du Chien (plate 253) has been one of the earliest and principal

250

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Zbl

/y/,y.

145

trading posts of the Fur Company, and they now have a large establisliment
at that place ; but doing far less business than formerly, owing to the great
mortality of the Indians in its vicinity, and the destruction of the game,
which has almost entirely disappeared in these regions. The prairie is a beau-
tiful elevation above the river, of several miles in length, and a mile or so in
width, with a most picturesque range of grassy bluffs encompassing it in
the rear. The Government have erected there a substantial Fort, in which
are generally stationed three or four companies of men, for the purpose (as
at the Fall of St. Anthony) of keeping the peace amongst the hostile tribes,
and also of protecting the frontier inhabitants from the attacks of the ex-
cited savages. There are on the prairie some forty or fifty families, mostly
French, and some half-breeds, whose lives have been chiefly spent in the
arduous and hazardous occupations of trappers, and traders, and voyageursj
which has well qualified them for the modes of dealing with Indians, where
they have settled down and stand ready to compete with one another for
their shares of annuities, &c. which are dealt out to the different tribes who
concentrate at that place, and are easily drawn from the poor Indians' hands
by whiskey and useless gew-gaws.

The consequence of this system is, that there is about that place, almost
one continual scene of wretchedness, and drunkenness, and disease amongst
the Indians, who come there to trade and to receive their annuities, that
disgusts and sickens the heart of every stranger that extends his travels
to it.

When I was there, Wa-be-sha's band of the Sioux came there, and re-
mained several weeks to get their annuities, which, when they received them,
fell (as they always will do), far short of paying off the account, which the
Traders take good care to have standing against them for goods furnished
them on a year's credit. However, whether they pay off" or not, they can
always get whiskey enough for a grand carouse and a brawl, which lasts
for a week or two, and almost sure to terminate the lives of some of their
numbers.

At the end of one of these a few days smce, after the men had enjoyed
their surfeit of whiskey, and wanted a little more amusement, and felt dis
posed to indulge the weaker sex in a little recreation also ; it was announced
amongst them, and through the village, that the women were going to havp
a ball -play !

For this purpose the men, in their very liberal trades they were making
and filling their canoes with goods delivered to them on a year's credit, laio
out a great quantity of ribbons and calicoes, with other presents well adapted
to the wants and desires of the women ; which were hung on a pole resting
on crotches, and guarded by an old man, who was to be judge and umpire
of the play which was to take place amongst the women, who were divided
into two equal parties, and were to play a desperate game of ball, for th«
valuable stakes that were hanging before them (plate 252).

VOL. II. V

146

In the ball-play of the women, they have two balls attached to the ends of
a string, about a foot and a half long ; and each woman has a short stickin
each hand, on which she catches the string with the two balls, and throws
them, endeavouring to force them over the goal of her own party. The men
are more than half drunk, when they feel liberal enough to indulge the
women in such an amusement ; and take infinite pleasure in rolling about on
the ground and laughing to excess, whilst the women are tumbling about in
all attitudes, and scuffling for the ball. The game of " hunt the slipper"
even, loses its zest after witnessing one of these, which sometimes last for
hours together ; and often exhibits the hottest contest for the balls, exactly
over the heads of the men ; who, half from whiskey, and half from inclina-
tion, are laying in groups and flat upon the ground.

Prairie du Chien is the concentrating place of the Winnebagoes and Me-
nomonies, who inhabit the waters of the Ouisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the
chief part of the country lying East of the Mississippi, and West of Green
Bay.

The Winnebagoes are the remnant of a once powerful and warlike tribe, but
are now left in a country where they have neither beasts or men to war with ;
and are in a most miserable and impoverished condition. The numbers of this
tribe do not exceed four thousand ; and the most of them have sold even
their guns and ammunition for whiskey. Like the Sioux and Menomonies
that come in to this post, they have several times suffered severely with the
small- pox, which has in fact destroyed the greater proportion of them

In PLATE 254, will be seen the portrait of an old chief, who died a few
years since ; and who was for many years the head chief of the tribe, by the
name of Naw-kaio (wood). This man has been much distinguished in his
time, for his eloquence ; and he desired me to paint him in the attitude of
an orator, addressing his people.

Plate "155, is a distinguished man of the Winnebago tribe, by the name
■)( Wah-chee-hahs-ka (the man who puts all out of doors), commonly called
the " boxer." The largest man of the tribe, with rattle-snakes' skins on his
arms, and his war-club in his hand.*

In PLATE 256 is seen a warrior, Kaw-kaw-ne-choo-a ; and in plate
257 another, Wa-kon-zee-kaw (the snake), both at full length ; and fair
specimens of the tribe, who are generally a rather short and thick-set, square
shouldered set of men, of great strength, and of decided character as brave
and desperate in war.

Besides the chief and warriors above-named, I painted the portraits of
Won-de-tow-a (the wonder), Wa-kon-chush-kaw (he who comes on the

* This man died of the small-pox the next summer after this portrait was painted.
Whilst the small-pox was raging so bad at the Prairie, he took the disease, and in a
rage plunged into the river, and swam across to the island where he dragged his body
out upon the beach, and there died, and his bones were picked by dogs, without any
friend to give him 1» irial.

3

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I-46

;

2 58

259

260

261

Cr.-CcLiLin .

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147

thunder), Nau-naw-pay-ee (the soldier), Span-e-o-nee-kaw (the Spaniard)
Hoo-wan-ee-kaw (the little elk), No-ah-choo-she-kaw (he who breaks the
bushes), and Naugh-haigh-ke-kaw (he who moistens the wood), all distin-
guished men of the tribe ; and all at full length, as they will be seen stand-
ing in my Collection.

The MENOMONIES,

Like the Winnebagoes, are the remnant of a much more numerous and in-
dependent tribe, but have been reduced and enervated by the use of whiskey
and the ravages of the small-pox, and number at this time, something like
three thousand, living chiefly on the banks of Fox River, and the Western
shore of Green Bay. They visit Prairie du Chien, where their annuities are
paid them ; and they indulge in the bane, like the tribes that I have
mentioned.

Of this tribe, I have painted quite a number of their leading characters, and
at the head of them all, Mah-kee-me-teuv (the grizzly bear, plate 258),
with a handsome pipe in his hand ; and by the side of him his wife Me-
cheet-e-neuh (the wounded bear's shoulder, plate 259). Both of these
have died since their portraits were painted. This dignified chief led a dele-
gation of fifteen of his people to Washington City, some years since, and there
commanded great respect for his eloquence, and dignity of deportment.

In PLATE 260 is the portrait of Chee-me-na-na-quet (the great cloud),
son of the chief — an ill-natured and insolent fellow who has since been killed
for some of his murderous deeds. Plate 261, is the portrait of a fine boy,
whose name is Tclia-kauks-o-ko-m.augh (the great chief). This tribe living
out of the reach of buffaloes, cover themselves with blankets, instead of
robes, and wear a profusion of beads and wampum, and other trinkets.

In plate 262, is Coo-coo-coo (the owl), a very aged and emaciated
chief, whom I painted at Green Bay, in Fort Howard. He had been a
distinguished man, but now in his dotage, being more than 100 years old —
and a great pet of the surgeon and officers of the post.

In PLATE 263, are two Menominee youths at full length, in beautiful
dresses, whose names I did not get — one with his war-club in his hamd,
and the other blowing on his " courting flute," which I have before de-
scribed.

In addition to these I have painted of this tribe, and placed in my Col-
lection, the portraits of Ko-man-i-kin-o-shaw (the little whale) ; Sha-wa-no

(the South) ; Mash-kee-wet (the thought) ; Pah-she e-nau-shaw ( ) ;

Au-nah-quet-o-hau-pay-o (the one sitting in the clouds); Auh-ka-na-paw-
wah (earth standing) ; Ko-man-ni-kin (the big wave) ; 0-ho-pa-sha (the
small whoop) ; Au-wuh-shew-kew (the female bear) ; and Chesh-ko-tong
(he who sings the war-song).

It will be seen by the reader, from the above facts, that I have been lay-
ing up much curious and valuable record of people <tnd customs in these

148

regions ; and it will be seen at the same time, from the brief manner in
which I have treated of these semi-civilized tribes, which every body can see,
and thousands have seen, that my enthusiasm, as I have before explained,
has led me more into minuteness and detail amongst those tribes which are
living in their unchanged native modes, whose customs 1 have been ambi-
tious to preserve for ages to come, before the changes that civilized acquain-
tance will soon work upon them.

The materials which I am daily gathering, however, are interesting ; and
I may on a future occasion use them — but in an epistle of this kind, there is
not room for the incidents of a long voyage, or for a minute description of
the country and the people in it ; so, what I have said must suffice for the
present. I lingered along the shores of this magnificent river then, in my
fragile bark, to Prairie du Chien — Dubuque — Galena, to Rock Island, and
lastly to this place.

During such a Tour between the almost endless banks, carpeted with green,
with one of the richest countries in the world, extending back in every direc-
tion, the mind of a contemplative man is continually building for posterity
splendid seats, cities, towers and villas, which a few years of rolling time
will bring about, with new institutions, new states, and almost empires ; for
it would seem that this vast region of rich soil and green fields, was almost
enough for a world of itself.

I hauled my canoe out of the water at Dubuque, where I joined my wife
again in the society of kind and hospitable friends, and found myself amply
repaid for a couple of weeks' time spent in the examination of the extensive
lead mines; walking and creeping through caverns, some eighty or one hun-
dred feet below the earth's surface, decked in nature's pure livery of stalactites
and spar — with walls, and sometimes ceilings, of glistening massive lead.
And I hold yet (and ever shall) in my mind, without loss of a fraction of
feature or expression, the image of one of my companions, and the scene
that at one time was about him. His name is Jeffries. We were in " Lock-
wood's Cave," my wife and another lady were behind, and he advancing
before me ; his ribs, more elastic than mine, gave him entrance through a
crevice, into a chamber yet unexplored ; he dared the pool, for there was
one of icy water, and translucent as the air itself. We stood luckless spec-
tators, to gaze and envy, while he advanced. The lighted flambeau in his
hand brought the splendid furniture of this tesselated palace into view ; the
surface of the jostled pool laved his sides as he advanced, and the rich
stalagmites that grew up from the bottom reflected a golden light through
the water, while the walls and ceiling were hung with stalactites which
glittered like diamonds.

In this wise he stood in silent gaze, in awe and admiration of the hidden
works of Nature ; his figure, as high as the surface of the water, was mag-
nified into a giant — and his head and shoulders not unfit for a cyclop. In
fact, he was a perfect figure of Vulcan. The water in which he stood was

CM

149

a lake of liquid fire — he held a huge hammer in his right hand, and a
flaming thunderbolt in his left, which he had just forged for Jupiter. There
was but one thing wanting, it was the " sound of the hammer ! " which was
soon given in peals upon the beautiful pendents of stalactite and spar, which
sent back and through the cavern, the hollow tones of thunder.

A visit of a few days to Dubuque will be worth the while of every travel-
ler ; and for the speculator and man of enterprize, it affords the finest field
now open in our country. It is a small town of 200 houses, built entirely
within the last two years, on one of the most delightful sites on the river,
and in the heart of the richest and most productive parts of the raining
region ; having this advantage over most other mining countries, that im-
mediately over the richest (and in fact all) of the lead mines ; the land on
the surface produces the finest corn, and all other vegetables that may be
put into it. This is certainly the richest section of country on the Continent,
and those who live a few years to witness the result, will be ready to sanction
my assertion, that it is to be the mint of our country.

From Dubuque, I descended the river on a steamer, with my bark canoe
laid on its deck, and my wife was my companion, to Camp Des Moines,
from whence I am now writing.

After arriving at this place, which is the wintering post of Colonel Kear-
ney, with his three companies of dragoons, I seated my wife and two
gentlemen of my intimate acquaintance, in my bark canoe, and paddled
them through the Des Moine's Rapids, a distance of fourteen miles, which
we performed in a very short time ; and at the foot of the Rapids, placed
my wife on the steamer for St. Louis, in company with friends, when I had
some weeks to return on my track, and revert back again to the wild and
romantic life that I occasionally love to lead. I returned to Camp Des
Moines, and in a few days joined General Street, the Indian Agent, in a
Tour to Ke-o-kuck's village of Sacs and Foxes.

Colonel Kearney gave us a corporal's command of eight men, with horses,
&c. for the journey ; and we reached the village in two days' travel, about
sixty miles up the Des Moines. The whole country that we passed over
was like a garden, wanting only cultivation, being mostly prairie, and we
found their village beautifully situated on a large prairie, on the bank of the
Des Moines River. They seemed to be well supplied with the neces-
saries of life, and with some of its luxuries. I found Ke-o-kuck to be a
chief of fine and portly figure, with a good countenance, and great dignity
and grace in his manners.

General Street had some documents from Washington, to read to him,
which he and his chiefs listened to with great patience ; after which he
placed before us good brandy and good wine, and invited us to drink, and to
lodge with him ; he then called up five of his runners or criers, communi-
cated to them in" a low, but emphatic tone, the substance of the talk from
the agent, and of tlie letters read to him, and they started at full gallop —

150

one of lliem proolaiming it through his village, and the others sent express
to the other villages, comprising the whole nation. Ke-o-kuck came in with
us, with about twenty of his principal men — he brought in all his costly
wardrobe, that I might select for his portrait such as suited me best; but
at once named (of his own accord) the one that was purely Indian. In that
he paraded for several days, and in it I painted him at full length. He is a
man of a great deal of pride, and makes truly a splendid appearance on his
black horse. He owns the finest horse in the country, and is excessively
vain of his appearance when mounted, and arrayed, himself and horse, in all
their gear and trappings. He expressed a wish to see himself represented
on horseback, and I painted him in that plight. He rode and nettled his
prancing steed in front of my door, until its sides were in a gore of blood.
I succeeded to his satisfaction, and his vanity is increased, no doubt, by
seeing himself immortalized in that way. After finishing him, I painted his
favourite wife (the favoured one of seven), his favourite boy, and eight or
ten of his principal men and women ; after which, he and all his men shook
hands with me, wishing me well, and leaving, as tokens of regard, the most
valued article of his dress, and a beautiful string of wampum, which he took
from his vnfe's neck.

They then departed for their village in good spirits, to prepare for their
fall hunt.

Of this interestmg mterview and its incidents, and of these people, I shall
soon give the reader a further account, and therefore close my note- boon
for the present. Adieu.

151

LETTER— No 53.

SAINT LOUIS.

It will be seen by the heading of this Letter that I am back again to
" head-quarters," where I have joined my wife, and being seated down by a
comfortable fire, am to take a little retrospect of my rambles, from the time
of my last epistle.

The return to the society of old friends again, has been delightful, and
amongst those whom I more than esteem, I have met my kind and faithful
friend Joe Chadwick, whom I have often mentioned, as my companion in
distress whilst on that disastrous campaign amongst the Camanchees. Joe
and I have taken great pleasure in talking over the many curious scenes we
have passed together, many of which are as yet unknown to others than
ourselves. We had been separated for nearly two years, and during that
time I had passed many curious scenes worthy of Joe's knowing, and while
he sat down in the chair for a portrait I painted of him to send to his mother,
on leaving the States, to take an appointment from Governor Houston in the
Texan army ; I related to him one or two of my recent incidents, which
were as follow, and pleased Joe exceedingly : —

" After I had paddled my bark canoe through the rapids, with my wife
and others in it, as I mentioned, and had put them on board a steamer
for St. Louis, I dragged my canoe up the east shore of the rapids, with
a line, for a distance of four miles, when I stopped and spent half of the
day in collecting some very interesting minerals, which I had in the bottom
of my canoe, and ready to get on the first steamer passing up, to take me
again to Camp Des Moines, at the head of the rapids.

" I was sitting on a wild and wooded shore, and waiting, when I at length
discovered a steamer several miles below me, advancing through the rapids,
and in the interim I set too and cleaned my fowling-piece and a noble pair
of pistols, which I had carried in a belt at my side, through my buffalo and
other sports of the West, and having put them in fine order and deposited
them in the bottom of the canoe before me, and taken my paddle in hand,
with which my long practice had given me unlimited confidence, I put off
from the shore to the middle of the river, which was there a mile and a half
in width, to meet the steamer, which was stemming the opposing torrent,
and slowly moving up the rapids. I made my signal as I neared the steamer,
and desired my old friend Captain Rogers, not to stop his engine ; feeling
full confidence that I could, with an Indian touch of the paddle, toss my
little bark around, and gently grapple to the side of the steamer, which was

152

loaded down, with her gunnels near to the water's edge. 01 , that my ski!!
had been equal to my imagination, or that I could have had at that moment
the balance and the skill of an Indian woman, for the sake of my little
craft and what was in it ! I had brought it about, with a master hand,
however, but the waves of the rapids and the foaming of the waters by her
sides were too much for my peaceable adhesion, and at the moment of
wheeling, to part company with her, a line, with a sort of " laso throw," came
from an awkward hand on the deck, and falling over my shoulder and
around the end of my canoe, with a simultaneous " haul" to it, sent me down
head foremost to the bottom of the river ; where 1 was tumbling along with
the rapid current over the huge rocks on the botiom, whilst my gun and
pistols, which were emptied from my capsised boat, were taking their perma-
nent position amongst the rocks ; and my trunk, containing my notes of travel
for several years, and many other valuable things, was floating off upon
the surface. If I had drowned, my death would have been witnessed by at
least an hundred ladies and gentlemen who were looking on, but I did not.
— I soon took a peep, by the side of my trunk &c., above the water, and
for the first time in my life was " collared," and that by my friend Captain
Rogers, who undoubtedly saved me from making further explorations on the
river bottom, by pulling me into the boat, to the amusement of all on deck,
many of whom were my old acquaintance, and not knowing the prelimina-
ries, were as much astounded at my sudden appearance, as if I had been
disgorged from a whale's belly. A small boat was sent off for my trunk,
which was picked up about half a mile below and brought on board full of
water, and consequently, clothes, and sketch-books and everything else
entirely wet through. My canoe was brought on board, which was several
degrees dearer to me now than it had been for its long and faithful service ;
but my gun and pistols are there yet, and at the service of the lucky one
who may find them. I remained on board for several miles, till we were
passing a wild and romantic rocky shore, on which the sun was shining warm,
and I launched my little boat into the water, with my trunk in it and
put off to the shore, where I soon had every paper and a hundred other
things spread in the sun, and at night in good order for my camp, which
was at the mouth of a quiet little brook, where I caught some fine bass
and fared well, till a couple of hours paddling the next morning brought
me back to Camp Des Moines."

Here my friend Joe laughed excessively, but said not a word, as I kept
on painting — and told him also, that a few days after this, I put my
Ihtle canoe on the deck of a steamer ascending the river, and landed at
Rock Island, ninety miles above, on some business with General Street,
the Indian Agent — after which I "put off" in my little bark, descending
the river alone, to Camp Des Moines, with a fine double-barrelled fowiing-
piece, which 1 had purchased at the garrison, lying in the canoe before me
as the means of procuring wild fowl, and other food on my passage. " Egad !"

153

said Joe, " how I should like to have been with you !" " Sit still," said I,
" or I shall lose your likeness." So Joe kept his position, and I proceeded*
" I left Rock Island about eleven o'clock in the morning, and at half-past
three in a pleasant afternoon, in the cool month of October, run my canoe
to the shore of Mas-co-tin Island, where I stepped out upon its beautiful
pebbly beach, with my paddle in my hand, having drawn the bow of my
canoe, as usual, on to the beach, so as to hold it in its place. This beauti-
ful island, so called from a band of the Illinois Indians of that name, who
once dwelt upon it, is twenty-five or thirty miles in length, without habitation
on or in sight of it, and the whole way one extended and lovely prairie ;
with high banks fronting the river, and extending back a great way, covered
with a high and luxuriant growth of grass. To the top of this bank I went
with my paddle in my hand, quite innocently, just to range my eye over its
surface, and to see what might be seen : when, in a minute or two, I turned
towards the river, and, to my almost annihilating surprise and vexation, I
saw my little canoe some twenty or thirty rods from the shore, and some
distance below me, with its head aiming across the river, and steadily gliding
along in that direction, where the wind was roguishly wafting it ! What
little swearing I had learned in the whole of my dealings with the civilized
world, seemed then to concentrate in two or three involuntary exclamations,
which exploded as I was running down the beach, and throwing off" my
garments one after the other, till I was denuded — and dashing through the
deep and boiUng current in pursuit of it, I swam some thirty rods in a
desperate rage, resolving that this must he my remedy, as there was no other
mode ; but at last found, to my great mortification and alarm, that the
canoe, having got so far from the shore, was more in the wind, and travelling
at a speed quite equal to ray own ; so that the only safe alternative was to
turn and make for the shore with all possible despatch. This I did — and
had but just strength to bring me where my feet could reach the bottom,
.ind I waded out with the appalling conviction, that if I had swam one rod
farther into the stream, my strength would never have brought me to the shore ;
for it was in the fall of the year, and the water so cold as completely to have
benumbed me, and paralyzed my limbs. I hastened to pick up my clothes,
which were dropped at intervals as I had run on the beach, and having
adjusted them on my shivering limbs, I stepped to the top of the bank, and
took a deliberate view of my little canoe, which was steadily making its way
to tnc other shore — with my gun, with my provisions and fire apparatus,
and sleeping apparel, all snugly packed in it.

"The river at that place is near a mile wide ; and I watched the mis-
chievous thing till it ran quite into a bunch of willows on the opposite shore,
and out of sight. I walked the shore awhile, alone and solitary as a
Zealand penguin, when I at last sat down, and in one minute passed the
following resolves from premises that were before me, and too imperative to
be evaded or unappreciated. ' I am here on a desolate island, with no-

VOL. II. X

164

thing to eat, and destitute of the means of procuring anything : and if I pass
the night, or half a dozen of them here, I shall have neither fire or clothes to
make me comfortable ; and nothing short of having my canoe will answer
me at all.' For this, the only alternative struck me, and I soon commen-
ced upon it. An occasional log or limb of drift wood was seen along the
beach and under the bank, and these I commenced bringing together from
all quarters, and some I had to lug half a mile or more, to form a raft to
float me up and carry me across the river. As there was a great scarcity
of materials, and I had no hatchet to cut anything; I had to use my scanty
materials of all lengths and of all sizes and all shapes, and at length ven-
tured upon the motley mass, with paddle in hand, and carefully shoved
it off from the shore, finding it just sufficient to float me up. I took a
seat in its centre on a bunch of barks which I had placed for a seat, and
which, when I started, kept me a few indies above the water, and conse-
quently dry, whilst my feet were resting on the raft, which in most parts was
sunk a little below the surface. The only alternative was to go, for there
was no more timber to be found ; so I balanced myself in the middle, and
by reaching forward with my paddle, to a little space between the timbers of
my raft, I had a small place to dip it, and the only one, in which I could
make but a feeble stroke — propelling me at a very slow rate across, as I
was floating rapidly down the current. I sat still and worked patiently,
however, content with the little gain ; and at last reached the opposite
sfiore about three miles below the place of my embarkation ; having passed
close by several huge snags, which I was lucky enough to escape, without
the power of having cleared them except by kind accident.

*' My craft was ' unseaworthy' when I started, and when I had got to the
middle of the river, owing to the rotten wood, with which a great part of it
was made, and which had now become saturated with water, it had sunk
entirely under the surface, letting me down nearly to the waist, in the water.
In this critical way I moved slowly along, keeping the sticks together under
me ; and at last, when I reached the shore, some of the long and awkward
limbs projecting from my raft, having reached it before me, and being sud-
denly resisted by the bank, gave the instant signal for its dissolution, and
my sudden debarkation, when I gave one grand leap in the direction of the
bank, yet some yards short of it, and into the water, from head to foot ; but
soon crawled out, and wended my way a mile or two up the shore, where I
found my canoe snugly and safely moored in the willows, where I stepped
into it, and paddled back to the island, and to the same spot where my mis-
fortunes commenced, to enjoy the pleasure of exultations, which were to
flow from contrasting my present with my former situation.

" Thus, the Island of Mas-co-tin soon lost its horrors, and I strolled two
days and encamped two nights upon its silent shores — with prairie hens and
wild fowl in abundance for my meals. From this lovely ground, which
shews the peaceful graves of hundreds of red men, who have valued it before

155

me, I paddled off in my light bark, and said, as I looked back, * Sleep
there m peace, ye brave fellows ! until the sacrilegious hands of white man,
and the unsympathizing ploughshare shall turn thy bones from their quiet
and beautiful resting-place !

" Two or three days of strolling, brought me again to the Camp Des Moines,
and from thence, with my favourite little bark canoe, placed upon the deck of
the steamer, I embarked for St. Louis, where I arrived in good order,and soon
found the way to the comfortable quarters from whence I am now writing. "

When I finished telling this story to Joe, his portrait was done, and I
rejoiced to find that I had given to it all the fire and all the game look that
had become so familiar and pleasing to me in our numerous rambles in the
far distant wilds of our former campaigns.*

When I had landed from the steamer Warrior, at the wharf, I left all other
considerations to hasten and report myself to my dear wife, leaving my little
canoe on deck and in the especial charge of the Captain, till I should return
for it in the afternoon, and remove it to safe storage with my other Indian
articles, to form an interesting part of my Museum. On my return to the
steamer it was " missing," and like one that I have named on a former occa-
sion, by some medicine operation, for ever severed from my sight, though
not from my recollections, where it will long remain, and also in a likeness
which I made of it (plate 240, a), just after the trick it played me on the
shore of the Mascotin Island.

After I had fi.nished the likeness of my friend Joe, and had told him the
two stories, I sat down and wrote thus in my note-book, and now copy it
into my Letter: —

The West — not the " Far West," for that is a phantom, travelling on its
tireless wing : but the West, the simple West — the vast and vacant wilds
which lie between the trodden haunts of present savage and civil life — the
great and almost boundless garden-spot of earth ! This is the theme at
present. The " antres vast and deserts idle," where the tomahawk sleeps with
the bones of the savage, as yet untouched by the trespassing ploughshare —
the pictured land of silence, which, in its melancholy alternately echoes
backward and forward the plaintive yells of the vanished red men, and the
busy chaunts of the approaching pioneers. I speak of the boundless plains
of beauty, and Nature's richest livery, where the waters of the " great deep"*
parted in peace, and gracefully passed off without leaving deformity behind
them. Over whose green, enamelled fields, as boundless and free as the
ocean's wave, Nature's proudest, noblest men have pranced on their wild
horses, and extended, through a series of ages, their long arms in orisons of
praise and gratitude to the Great Spirit in the sun, for the freedom and

* Poor Chad wick ! a few days after the ahore occasion, he sent his portrait to his mother,
and started for Texas, where he joined the Texan army, with a commission from Governor
Houston ; was taken prisoner in the first battle that he fought, and was amongst the four
hundred prisoners who were shot down in cold blood by the order of Santa Anna.

156

happiness of their existence. — ^The land that was beautiful and famed, but
had no chronicler to tell — where, while " civilized" was yet in embryo, dwelt
the valiant and the brave, whose deeds of chivalry and honour have passed
away like themselves, unembalmed and untold — where the plumed war
horse has pranced in time with the shrill sounding war-cry, and the eagle
calumet as oft sent solemn and mutual pledges in fumes to the skies. I
speak of the neutral ground (for such it may be called), where the smoke
of the wigwam is no longer seen, but ihe bleaching bones of the buffaloes,
and the graves of the savage, tell the story of times and days that are passed
— the land of stillness, on which the red man now occasionally re-treads in
sullen contemplation, amid the graves of his fathers, and over which civilized
man advances, filled with joy and gladness.

Such is the great valley of the Mississippi and Missouri, over almost every
part of which I have extended my travels, and of which and of its future
wealth and improvements, I have had sublime contemplations.

I have viewed man in the artless and innocent simplicity of nature, in the
full enjoyment of the luxuries which God had bestowed upon him. I have
seen him happier than kings or princes can be ; with his pipe and little ones
about him. I have seen him shrinking from civilized approach, which came
with all its vices, like the dead of night, upon him : I have seen raised, too,
in that darkness, religion s torch, and seen him gaze and then retreat like
the frightened deer, that are blinded by the light ; I have seen him shrink-
ing from the soil and haunts of his boyhood, bursting the strongest ties which
bound him to the earth, and its pleasures ; 1 have seen him set fire to his
wigwam, and smooth over the graves of his fathers ; I have seen him ('tis the
only thing that will bring them) with tears of grief sliding over his cheeks,
clap his hand in silence over his mouth, and take the last look over his fair
hunting grounds, and turn his face in sadness to the setting sun. All this I
have seen performed in Nature's silent dignity and grace, which forsook him
not in the last extremity of misfortune and despair ; and I have seen as often,
the aporoach of the bustling, busy, talking, whistling, hopping, elated and
exulting white man, with the first dip of the ploughshare, making sacrilegious
trespass on the bones of the valiant dead. I have seen the skull, the pipe,
and the tomahawk rise from the ground together, in interrogations which the
sophistry of the world can never answer. I have seen thus, in all its forms
and features, the grand and irresistible march of civilization. 1 have seen
this splendid Juggernaut rolling on, and beheld its sweeping desolation ; and
held converse with the happy thousands, living, as yet, beyond its influence,
who have not been crushed, nor yet have dreamed of its approach.

I have stood amidst these unsophisticated people, and contemplated with
feelings of deepest regret, the certain approach of this overwhelming system,
which will inevitably march on and prosper, until reluctant tears shall have
watered every rod of this fair land ; and from the towering cliffs of the Rocky
Mountains, the luckless savage will turn back his swollen eye, over the blue

157

and illimitable hunting grounds from whence he has fled, and there contem-
plate, like Caius Marius on the ruins of Carthage, their splendid desolation.

Such is the vast expanse of country from which Nature's tnen are at this
time rapidly vanishing, giving way to the modern crusade which is following
the thousand allurements, and stocking with myriads, this world of green
fields. This splendid area, denominated the " Valley of the Mississippi," em-
braced between the immutable barriers on either side, the Alleghany and Rocky
Mountains ; with the Gulf of Mexico on the South, and the great string of
lakes on the North, and the mighty Mississippi rolling its turbid waters
through it, for the distance of four thousand miles, receiving its hundred
tributaries, whose banks and plateaus are capable of supporting a population
of one hundred millions, covered almost entirely with the richest soil in the
world, with lead, iron, and coal, suflficient for its population — with twelve
thousand miles of river navigation for steamers, within its embrace, besides
the coast on the South, and the great expanse of lakes on the North — with
a population of five millions, already sprinkled over its nether half, and a
greater part of the remainder of it, inviting the world to its possession, for one
dollar and 25 cents (five shillings) per acre !

I ask, who can contemplate, without amazement, this mighty river alone,
eternally rolling its boiling waters through the richest of soil, for the distance
of four thousand miles ; over three thousand five hundred of which, I have
myself been wafted on mighty steamers, ensconced within " curtains dam-
asked, and carpets ingrain ;" and on its upper half, gazed with tireless ad-
miration upon its thousand hills and mounds of grass and green, sloping
down to the water's edge, in all the grace and beauty of Nature's loveliest
fabrication. On its lower half, also, whose rich alluvial shores are studded
with stately cotton wood and elms, which echo back the deep and hollow
cough of the puffing steamers. I have contemplated the bed of this vast
river, sinking from its natural surface ; and the alligator driven to its bosom,
abandoning his native bog and fen, which are drying and growing into beauty
and loveliness under the hand of the husbandman.

I have contemplated these boundless forests melting away before the fatal
axe, until the expanded waters of this vast channel, and its countless tribu-
taries, will yield their surplus to the thirsty sunbeam, to which their shorn
banks will expose them ; and I have contemplated, also, the never-ending
transit of steamers, ploughing up the sand and deposit from its bottom,
which its turbid waters are eternally hurrying on to the ocean, sinking its
channel, and thereby raising its surrounding alluvions for the temptations
and enjoyment of man.

All this is certain. Man's increase, and the march of human improve-
ments in this New World, are as true and irresistible as the laws of nature,
and he who could rise from his grave and speak, or would speak from the
life some half century from this, would proclaim my prophecy true and ful-
filled. I said above, (and I again say it,) that these are subjects for " sublime

158

contemplation !" At all events they are so to the traveller, who has wandered
over and seen this vast subject in all its parts, and able to appreciate — who
has seen the frightened herds, as well as multitudes of human, giving way
and shrinking from the mountain wave of civilization, which is busily rollino-
on behind them.

From Maine to Florida on the Atlantic coast, the forefathers of those
hardy sons who are now stocking this fair land, have, from necessity, in a
hard and stubborn soil, inured their hands to labour, and their habits and
taste of life to sobriety and economy, which will ensure them success in the
new world.

This rich country which is now alluring the enterprising young men from
the East, being commensurate with the whole Atlantic States, holds out the
extraordinary inducement that every emigrant can enjoy a richer soil, and
that too in his own native latitude. The sugar planter, the rice, cotton, and
tobacco growers — corn, rye, and wheat producers, from Louisiana to Mon-
treal, have only to turn their faces to the West, and there are waiting for
them the same atmosphere to breathe, and green fields already cleared, and
ready for the plough, too tempting to be overlooked or neglected.

As far west as the banks of the Mississippi, the great wave of emigration
has rolled on, and already in its rear the valley is sprinkled with towns und
cities, with their thousand spires pointing to the skies. For several hundred
miles West, also, have the daring pioneers ventured their lives and fortunes,
with their families, testing the means and luxuries of life, which Nature has
spread before them ; in the country where the buried tomahawk is scarce
rusted, and the war-cry has scarcely died on the winds. Among these
people have I roamed. On the Red River I have seen the rich Louisianian
chequering out his cotton and sugar plantations, where the sunbeam could
be seen reflected from the glistening pates of his hundred negroes, making
first trespass with the hoe. 1 have sat with him at his hospitable table in his
log cabin, sipping sherry and champaigne. He talks of " hogsheads and
price of stocks," or " goes in for cotton."

In the western parts of Arkansas and Missouri, 1 have shared the genuine
cottage hospitality of the abrupt, yet polite and honourable Kerxtuckian ; the
easy, affable and sociable Tennesseean ; this has " a smart chance of corn ;"
the other, perhaps, " a power of cotton ;" and then, occasionally, (from the
" Old Dominion,") " 1 reckon I shall have a mighty heap of tobacco this
season," &c.

Boys in this country are ^^ peart," fever and ague renders one "powerful
weak," and sometimes it is almost impossible to get " shet" of it. Intelli-
gence, hospitality, and good cheer reign under all of these humble roofs, and
the traveller who knows how to appreciate those things, with a good cup of
coffee, "corn* bread," and fresh butter, can easily enjoy moments of bliss in
converse with the humble pioneer.

On the Upper Mississippi and Missouri, for the distance of seven or eight

* Maize.

159

Hundred miles above St. Louis, is one of the most beautiful champaigne
countries in the world, continually alternating into timber and fields of the
softest green, calculated, from its latitude, for the people of the northern and
eastern states, and " Jonathan" is already here — and almost every body else
from " down East" — with fences of white, drawn and drawing, like chalk
lines, over the green prairie. " By gosh, this ere is the biggest clearin I
ever see." " I expect we had'nt ought to raise nothin but wheat and rye
here." — " 1 guess you've come arter land, ha'nt you ?"

Such is the character of'this vast country, and such the manner in which
it is filled up, with people from all parts, tracing their own latitudes, and
carrying with them their local peculiarities and prejudices. The mighty
Mississippi, however, the great and everlasting highway on which these
people are for ever to intermingle their interests and manners, will effectually
soften down those prejudices, and eventually result in an amalgamation of
feelings and customs, from which this huge mass of population will take one
new and general appellation.

It is here that the true character of the American is to be formed — ^here
where the peculiarities and incongruities which detract from his true character
are surrendered for the free, yet lofty principle that strikes between meanness
and prodigality — between literal democracy and aristocracy — between low
cunning and self-engendered ingenuousness. Such will be found to be the
true character of the Americans when jostled awhile together, until their local
angles are worn off" ; and such may be found and already pretty well formed,
in the genuine Kentuckian, the first brave and daring pioneer of the great
West ; he is the true model of an American — the nucleus around which the
character must form, and from which it is to emanate to the world. This is
the man who first relinquished the foibles and fashions of Eastern life, trail-
ing his rifle into the forest of the Mississippi, taking simple Nature for his
guide. From necessity (as well as by nature), bold and intrepid, with the
fixed and unfaltering brow of integrity, and a hand whose very grip (without
words) tells you welcome.

And yet, many people of the East object to the Mississippi, " that it is
too far off — is out of the world." But how strange and insufficient is such
an objection to the traveller who has seen and enjoyed its hospitality, and
reluctantly retreats from it with feelings of regret ; pronouncing it a " world
of itself, equal in luxuries and amusements to any other." How weak is
such an objection to him who has ascended the Upper Mississippi to the Fall
of St. Anthony, traversed the States of Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan, and
territory of Ouisconsin ; over all of which nature has spread her green fields,
smiling and tempting man to ornament with painted house and fence, with
prancing steed and tasseled carriage — with countless villages, silvered spires
and domes, denoting march of intellect and wealth's refinement. The sun
is sure to look upon these scenes, and we, perhaps, " may hear the tinkling
J rom our graves." Adieu.

160

LETTER— No 54.

RED PIPE STONE QUARRY, COTEAU DES PRAIRIES.

The reader who would follow me from the place where my last epistle
was written, to where I now am, must needs start, as I did, from St. Louis,
and cross the Alleghanny mountains, to my own native state; where I left
my wife with my parents, and wended my way to Buffalo, on Lake Erie,
where I deposited my Collection ; and from thence trace, as I did, the zig-
zag course of the Lakes, from Buffalo to Detroit — to the Sault de St. Marys
— to Mackinaw — to Green Bay, and thence the tortuous windings of the
Fox and Ouisconsin Rivers, to Prairie du Chien ; and then the mighty Mis-
sissippi (for the second time), to the Fall of St. Anthony — then the sluggish,
yet decorated and beautiful St. Peters, towards its source ; and thence again
(on horseback) the gradually and gracefully rising terraces of the shorn, yet
green and carpeted plains, denominated the " Coteau des Prairies" (being
the high and dividing ridge between the St. Peters and the Missouri Rivers),
where I am bivouacked, at the " Red Pipe Stone Quarry." The distance
of such a Tour would take the reader 4,000 miles ; but I save him the
trouble by bringing him, in a moment, on the spot.

This journey has afforded me the opportunity of seeing, on my way, Mac-
kinaw— the Sault de St. Marys, and Green Bay — points which I had not
before visited ; and also of seeing many distinguished Indians among the
Chippeways, Menomonies and Winnebagoes, whom I had not before painted
or seen.

I can put the people of the East at rest, as to the hostile aspect of this
part of the country, as I have just passed through the midst of these tribes,
as well as of the Sioux, in whose country I now am, and can, without con-
tradiction, assert, that, as far as can be known, they are generally well-dis-
posed, and have been so, towards the whites.

There have been two companies of United States dragoons, ordered and
marched to Green Bay, where I saw them ; and three companies of infantry
from Prairie du Chien to Fort Winnebago, in anticipation of difficulties ;
but in all probability, without any real cause or necessity, for the Winnebago
chief answered the officer, who asked him if they wanted to fight, " that
they could not, had they been so disposed ; for," said he, " we have no
guns, no ammunition, nor anything to eat ; and, what is worst of all, one half

148

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of our men are dying with the small-pox. If you will give us guns and
ammunition, and pork, and flour, and feed and take care of our squaws
and children, we will fight you ; nevertheless, we will try to fight if you
want us to, as it is."

There is, to appearance (and there is no doubt of the truth of it), the most
humble poverty and absolute necessity for peace among these people at
present, that can possibly be imagined. And, amidst their poverty and
wretchedness, the only war that suggests itself to the eye of the traveller
through their country, is the war of sympathy and pity, which wages in the
breast of a feeling, thinking man.

The small-pox, whose ravages have now pretty nearly subsided, has taken
off a great many of the Winnebagoes and Sioux. The famous Wa-be-sha,
of the Sioux, and more than half of his band, have fallen victims to it within
a few weeks, and the remainder of them, blackened with its frightful distor-
tions, look as if they had just emerged fiom the sulphurous regions below.
At Prairie du Chien, a considerable number of the half-breeds, and French
also, suffered death by this baneful disease ; and at that place I learned one
fact, which may be of service to science, which was this : that in all cases
of vaccination, which had been given several years ago, it was an efficient
protection ; but in those cases where the vaccine had been recent (and there
were many of them), it had not the effect to protect, and in almost every
instance of such, death ensued.

At the Sault de St. Marys on Lake Superior, I saw a considerable num-
ber of Chippeways, living entirely on fish, which they catch with great ease
at that place.

1 need not detain the reader a moment with a description of St. Marys,
or of the inimitable summer's paradise, which can always be seen at Mac-
kmaw; and which, like the other, has been an hundred times described.
1 shall probably have the chance of seeing about 3,000 Chippeways at the
latter place on my return home, who are to receive their annuities at that
time through the hands of Mr. Schoolcraft, their agent.

In PLATE 264, I have given a distant view of Mackinaw, as seen ap-
proaching it from the East ; and in plate 265, a view of the Sault de St
Marys, taken from the Canada shore, near the missionary-house, which is
seen in the fore-ground of the picture, and in distance, the United States
Garrison, and the Rapids ; and beyond them the Capes at the outlet of Lake
Superior.

I mentioned that the Chippeways living in the vicinity of the Sault, live
entirely on fish; and it is almost literally true also, that the French and
English, and Americans, who reside about there live on fish, which are
caught in the greatest abundance in the rapids at that place, and are, per-
haps, one of the greatest luxuries of the world. The white fish, which is m
appearance much like a salmon, though smaller, is the luxury I am speakmg
of, and is caught in immense quantities by the scoop-nets of the Indiana and

VOL. II. Y

162

Frenchmen, amongst the foaming and dashing water of the rapids (plate
266), where it gains strength and flavour not to be found in the same fish
in any other place. This unequalled fishery has long been one of vast im-
portance to the immense numbers of Indians, who have always assembled
about it ; but of late, has been found by money -making men, to be too valu-
able a spot for the exclusive occupancy of the savage, like hundreds of
others, and has at last been filled up with adventurers, vho have dipped
their nets till the poor Indian is styled an intruder ; and his timid baik is
seen dodging about in the coves for a scanty subsistence, whilst he scans
and envies insatiable white man filling his barrels and boats, and sending
them to market to be converted into money.

In PLATE 267 is seen one of their favourite amusements at this place,
which I was lucky enough to witness a few miles below the Sault, when
high bettings had been made, and a great concourse of Indians had assem-
bled to witness an Indian regatta or canoe race, which went off" with great
excitement, firing of guns, yelping, &c. The Indians in this vicinity are all
Chippeways, and their canoes all made of birch bark, and chiefly of one
model ; they are exceedingly light, as I have before described, and propelled
with wonderful velocity.

Whilst I stopped at the Sault, 1 made excursions on Lake Superior, and
through other parts of the country, both on the Canada and United States
sides, and painted a number of Chippeways ; amongst whom were On-daig
(the crow, plate 268), a young man of distinction, in an extravagant and
beautiful costume ; and Gitch-ee-gaw-ga-osh (the point that remains for
ever), plate 269, an old and respected chief.* And besides these, Gato-
zaw-que-dung (he who hallows; Kay-ee-qua-da-kum-ee-gish-kum (iie who
tries the ground with his foot) ; and I-an-be-wa-dick (the male carabou.)

From Mackinaw I proceeded to Green Bay, which is a flourishing begin-
ning of a town, in the heart of a rich country, and the head-quarters of
land speculators.

From thence, I embarked in alarge bark canoe, with five French voyageurs at
the oars, where happened to be grouped and messed together, five "jolly com-
panions" of us, bound for Fort Winnebago and the Mississippi. All our stores
and culinary articles were catered for by, and bill rendered to, mine host,
Mr. C. Jennings (quondam of the city hotel in New York), who was one of
our party, and whom we soon elected " Major" of the expedition ; and shortly
after, promoted to " Colonel" — from the philosophical dignity and patience
with which he met the difficulties and exposure which we had to encounter,
as well as for his extraordinary skill and taste displayed in the culinary art.
Mr. Irving, a relative of W. Irving, Esq., and Mr. Robert Serril Wood, an
Englishman (both travellers of European realms, with fund inexhaustible

* This very dislinguished old chief, I have learned, died a few weeks after I painted
his portrait.

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163

fo' amusement and entertainment) ; Lieutenant Reed, of the army, and my-
self, forming the rest of the party. The many amusing little incidents which
enlivened our transit up the sinuous windings of the Fox river, amid its rapids
its banks of loveliest prairies and " oak openings," and its boundless shores
of wild rice, with the thrilling notes of Mr. Wood's guitar, and <' chansons
pour rire," from our tawny boatmen, &c. were too good to be thrown away,
and have been registered, perhaps for a future occasion. Suffice it for the
present, that our fragile bark brought us in good time to Fort Winnebago,
with impressions engraven on our hearts which can never be erased, of this
sweet and beautiful little river, and of the fun and fellowship which kept us
awake during the nights, almost as well as during the days. At this post,
after remaining a day, our other companions took a different route, leaving
Mr. Wood and myself to cater anew, and to buy a light bark canoe for our
voyage down the Ouisconsin, to Prairie du Chien ; in which we embarked
the next day, with paddles in hand, and hearts as light as the zephyrs, amid
which we propelled our little canoe. Three days' paddling, embracing two
nights' encampment, brought us to the end of our voyage. We entered the
mighty Mississippi, and mutually acknowledged ourselves paid for our
labours, by the inimitable scenes of beauty and romance, through which we
had passed, and on which our untiring eyes had been riveted during the
whole way.

The Ouisconsin, which the French most appropriately denominate " La
belle riviere," may certainly vie with any other on the Continent or in the
world, for its beautifully skirted banks and prairie bluffs. It may justly be
said to be equal to the Mississippi about the Prairie du Chien in point of
sweetness and beauty, but not on quite so grand a scale.

My excellent and esteemed fellow-traveller, like a true Englishman, has
untiringly stuck by me through all difficulties, passing the countries above-
mentioned, and also the Upper Mississippi, the St. Peters, and the overland
route to our present encampment on this splendid plateau of the Western
world. ******

* Thus far have I strolled, within the space of a few weeks,

for the purpose of reaching classic ground.

Be not amazed if 1 have sought, in this distant realm, the Indian Muse,
for here she dwells, and here she must be invoked — nor be offended if my
narratives from this moment should savour of poetry or appear like romance.
If I can catch the inspiration, I may sing (or yell) a few epistles from
this famed ground before I leave it ; or at least I will prose a few of its
leading characteristics and mysterious legends. This place is great (not in
history, for there is none of it, but) in traditions, and stories, of which this
Western world is full and rich.

" Here (according to their traditions), happened the mysterious birth of
the red pipe, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the remotest
corners of the Continent ; which has visited every warrior, and passed through

164

its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and desolation. And licre
also, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and fringed with the eagle's
quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes over the land, and soothed the fury
of the relentless savage.

" The Great Spirit at an ancient period, here called the Indian nations
together, and standing on the precipice of the red pipe stone rock, broke
from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand, which
he smoked over them, and to the North, the South, the East, and the West,
and told them that this stone was red — that it was their flesh — that they
must use it for their pipes of peace — that it belonged to them all, and that
the war-club and scalping knife must not be raised on its ground. At the
last whifF of his pipe his head went into a great cloud, and the whole surface
of the rock for several miles was melted and glazed ; two great ovens were
opened beneath, and two women (guardian spirits of the place), entered
them in a blaze of fire ; and they are heard there yet (Tso-mec-cos-tee, and
Tso-rae-cos-te-won-dee), answering to the invocations of the high priests or
medicine-men, who consult them when they are visitors to this sacred

place,''

Near this spot, also, on a high mound, is the ^' Thunder s nest " {nid-
du-Tonnere), where "a very small bird sits upon her eggs during fair
weather, and the skies are rent with bolts of thunder at the approach of a
storm, which is occasioned by the hatching of her brood !"

" This bird is eternal, and incapable of reproducing her own species :
she has often been seen by the medicine-men, and is about as large as the
end of the little finger ! Her mate is a serpent, whose fiery tongue destroys
the young ones as they are hatched, and the fiery noise darts through
the skies."

Such are a few of the stories of this famed land, which of itself, in
its beauty and loveliness, without the aid of traditionary fame, would be
appropriately denominated a paradise. Whether it has been an Indian Eden
or not, or whether the thunderbolts of Indian Jupiter are actually forged
here, it is nevertheless a place renowned in Indian heraldry and tradition,
which I hope I may be able to fathom and chronicle, as explanatory of
many of my anecdotes and traditionary superstitions of Indian history, which
I have e;iven, and ain giving, to the world.

With my excellent companion, I am encamped on, and writing from, the
very rock where "the Great Spirit stood when he consecrated the pipe of
peace, by moulding it from the rock, and smoking it over the congregated
nations that were assembled about him." (See plate 270.)

Lifted up on this stately mound, whose top is fanned with air as light to
breathe as nitrous oxide gas — and bivouacked on its very ridge, (where
nought on earth is seen in distance save the thousand treeless, bushless,
weed/ess hills of grass and vivid green which all around me vanish into
an infinity of blue and azure), stretched on our bears'-skins, my fellow-

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traveller, Mr. Wood, and myself, have laid and contemplated the splendid
orrery of the heavens. With sad delight, that shook me with a terror, have
I watched the swollen sun shoving down (too fast for time) upon the mystic
horizon ; whose line was lost except as it was marked in blue across his
blood-red disk. Thus have we laid night after night (two congenial spirits
who could draw pleasure from sublime contemplation), and descanted on
our own insignificance ; we have closely drawn our buffalo robes about us,
talked of the ills of life — of friends we had lost — of projects that had failed
— and of the painful steps we had to retrace to reach our own dear native
lands again. We have sighed in the melancholy of twilight, when the busy
winds were breathing their last, the chill of sable night was hovering around
us, and nought of noise was heard but the silvery tones of the howling wolf,
and the subterraneous whistle of the busy gophirs that were ploughing and
vaulting the earth beneath us. Thus have we seen wheeled down in the
West, the glories of day ; and at the next moment, in the East, beheld her
silver majesty jutting up above the horizon, with splendour in her face that
seemed again to fill the world with joy and gladness. We have seen here,
too, in all its sublimity, the blackening thunderstorm — the lightning's glare,
and stood amidst the jarring thunder-bolts, that tore and broke in awful
rage about us, as they rolled over the smooth surface, with nought but empty
air to vent their vengeance on. There is a sublime grandeur in these scenes
as they are presented here, which must be seen and felt, to be understood.
There is a majesty in the very ground that we tread upon, that inspires with
awe and reverence ; and he must have the soul of a brute, who could gallop
his horse for a whole day over swells and terraces of green that rise contin-
ually a-head. and tantalize (where hills peep over hills, and Alps on Alps
arise), without feeling his bosom swell with awe and admiration, and himself
as well as his thoughts, lifted up in sublimity when he rises the last terrace,
and sweeps his eye over the wide spread, blue and pictured infinity that lies
around and beneath him.*

Man feels here, and startles at the thrilling sensation, the force of illimi-
table freedorn — his body and his mind both seem to have entered a new
element — the former as free as the very wind it inhales, and the other as
expanded and infinite as the boundless imagery that is spread in distance
around him. Such is (and it is feebly told) the Coteau du Prairie. The rock
on which I sit to write, is the summit of a precipice thirty feethigh, extending
two miles in length and much of the way polished, as if a liquid glazing had
been poured over its surface. Not far from us, in the sohd rock, are the deep
impressed " footsteps of the Great Spirit (in the form of a track of a large
bird), where he formerly stood when the blood of the buflaloes that he was
devouring, ran into the rocks and turned them red." At a few yards from us,
leaps ci beautiful little stream, from the top of the precipice, into a deep basm

* Tlie reader and traveller who may have this hook with him, should follow the Cfiieau
a few miles to the iN'orth of the C^>iiarr\', for the highest elevation and greateat subliiuity oi
view.

166

below. Here, amid rocks of the loveliest hues, but wildest contour, is seen
the poor Indian performing ablution ; and at a little distance beyond, on the
plain, at the base of five huge granite boulders, he is humbly propitiating
the guardian spirits of the place, by sacrifices of tobacco, entreating for per-
mission to take away a small piece of the red stone for a pipe. Farther
along, and over an extended plain are seen, like gophir hills, their excava-
tions, ancient and recent, and on the surface of the rocks, various marks
and their sculptured hieroglyphics — their wakons, totems and medicines —
subjects numerous and interesting for the antiquary or the merely curious.
Graves, mounds, and ancient fortifications that lie in sight — the pyra
mid or leaping-rock, and its legends ; together with traditions, novel and
numerous, and a description, graphical and geological, of this strange place,
have all been subjects that have passed rapidly through my contemplation,
and will be given in future epistles.

On our way to this place, my English companion and myself were arrested
by a rascally band of the Sioux, and held in durance vile, for having dared
to approach the sacred fountain of the pipe! While we had halted at the
trading-hut of " Le Blanc," at a place called Traverse des Sioux, on the
St. Peters river, and about 150 miles from the Red Pipe, a murky cloud of
dark-visaged warriors and braves commenced gathering around the house,
closing and cramming all its avenues, when one began his agitated and in-
sulting harangue to us, announcing to us in the preamble, that we were
prisoners, and could not go ahead. About twenty of them spoke in turn ;
and we were doomed to sit nearly the whole afternoon, without being allowed
to speak a word in our behalf, until they had all got through. We were
compelled to keep our seats like culprits, and hold our tongues, till all had
brandished their fists in our faces, and vented all the threats and invective
which could flow from Indian malice, grounded on the presumption that we
had come to trespass on their dearest privilege, — their religion.

There was some allowance to be made, and some excuse, surely, for the
rashness ot these poor fellows, and we felt disposed to pity, rather than re-
sent, though their unpardonable stubbornness excited us almost to despera-
tion. Their superstition was sensibly touched, for we were persisting, in
the most peremptory terms, in the determination to visit this, their greatest
medicine (mystery) place ; where, it seems, they had often resolved no
white man should ever be allowed to go. They took us to be " officers
sent by Government to see what this place was worth," &c. As " this
red stone was a part of their flesh," it would be sacrilegious for white
man to touch or take it away" — " a hole would be made in their flesh,
and the blood could never be made to stop running." My companion and
myself were here in a fix, one that demanded the use of every energy we
had about us ; astounded at so unexpected a rebuff, and more than ever
excited to go ahead, and see what was to be seen at this strange place ; in
this emergency, we mutually agreed to go forward, even if it should be at

167

the hazard of our lives ; we heard all they had to say, and then made our
own speeches — and at length had our horses brought, which we mounted
and rode off without further molestation ; and having arrived upon this in-
teresting ground, have found it quite equal in interest and beauty to our
sanguine expectations, abundantly repaying us for all our trouble in travel-
ing to it.

I had long ago heard many curious descriptions of this spot given by the
Indians, and had contracted the most impatient desire to visit it.* It will
be seen by some of the traditions inserted in this Letter, from my notes
taken on the Upper Missouri four years since, that those tribes have visited
this place freely in former times ; and that it has once been held and owned
in common, as neutral ground, amongst the different tribes who met here to
renew their pipes, under some superstition which stayed the tomahawk of
natural foes, always raised in deadly hate and vengeance in other places.
It will be seen also, that within a few years past (and that, probably, by
the instigation of the whites, who have told them that by keeping off other
tribes, and manufacturing the pipes themselves, and trading them to other
adjoining nations, they can acquire much influence and wealth), the Sioux
have laid entire claim to this quarry ; and as it is in the centre of their
country, and they are more powerful than any other tribes, they are able
successfully to prevent any access to it.

That this place should have been visited for centuries past by all the
neighbouring tribes, who have hidden the war-club as they approached it,
and stayed the cruelties of the scalping-knife, under the fear of the vengeance
of the Great Spirit, who overlooks it, will not seem strange or unnatural,
when their religion and superstitions are known.

That such has been the custom, there is not a shadow of doubt ; and that
even so recently as to have been witnessed by hundreds and thousands of
Indians of different tribes, now living, and from many of whom I have per-
sonally drawn the information, some of which will be set forth in the fol-
lowing traditions ; and as an additional (and still more conclusive) evidence
of the above position, here are to be seen (and will continue to be seen for

* I have in former epistles, several times spoken of the red pipes of the Indians
Tchich are found in aliaost every tribe of Indians on the Continent ; and in every instance
have, I venture to say, been brought from the Coteau des Prairies, inasmuch as no tribe
of Indians that I have yet visited, have ever apprized me of any other source than this ;
and, tlie stone from vs-hich they are all manufactured, is of the same character exactly, and
different from any known mineral compound ever yet discovered in any part of Europe,
or other parts of the American Continent. This may be thought a broad assertion — ^yet it
is one I have ventured to make (and one I should have had no motive for making, except
for the purpose of eliciting information, if there be any, on a subject so curious and so
exceedingly interesting). In my Indian Museum there can always be seen a great many
beautiful specimens of this mineral selected on the spot, by myself, embracing all of its
numerous varieties ; ard I challenge the world to produce anything like it, except it be
from the same locality. In a following Letter will be found a further account of it, and
its chemical analysis.

168

ages to come), the totems and arms of the different tribes, who have visit e
this place for ages past, deeply engraved on the quartz rocks, where they are
to be recognized in a moment (and not to be denied) by the passing traveller,
who has been among these tribes, and acqviired even but a partial knowledge
of them and their respective modes.*

The thousands of inscriptions and paintings on the rocks at this place, as
well as the ancient diggings for the pipe-stone, will eifford amusement for the
world who will visit it, without furnishing the least data, I should think, of
the time at which these excavations commenced, or of the period at which the
Sioux assumed the exclusive right to it.

Among the many traditions which I have drawn personally from the
different tribes, and which go to support the opinion above advanced, is the
following one, which was related to me by a distinguished Knisteneaux, on
the Upper Missouri,, four years since, on occasion of presenting to me a hand-
some red stone pipe. After telling me that he had been to this place — and
after describing it in all its features, he proceeded to say : —

" That in the time of a great freshet, which took place many centuries
ago, and destroyed all the nations of the earth, all the tribes of the red men
assembled on the Coteau du Prairie, to get out of the way of the waters.
After they had all gathered here from all parts, the water continued to rise,
until at length it covered them all in a mass, and their flesh was converted
into red pipe stone. Therefore it has always been considered neutral ground
— it belonged to all tribes alike, and all were allowed to get it and smoke it
together.

" While they were all drowning in a mass, a young woman, K-wap-tah-w
(a virgin), caught hold of the foot of a very large bird that was flying over,
and was carried to the top of a high cliff, not far off, that was above the
water. Here she had twins, and their father was the war-eagle, and her
children have since peopled the earth.

" The pipe stone, which is the flesh of their ancestors, is smoked by them
as the symbol of peace, and the eagle's quill decorates the head of the brave."

Tradition of the Sioux. — " Before the creation of man, the Great Spirit
(whose tracks are yet to be seen on the stones, at the Red Pipe, in form of tlie
tracks of a large bird) used to slay the buffaloes and eat them on the ledge of
the Red Rocks, on the top of the Coteau des Prairies, and their blood running
on to the rocks, turned them red. One day when a large snake had crawled

* I am aware that this interesting fact may be opposed by subsequent travellers, wLo
will find nobody but the Sioux upon this ground, who now claim exclusive rightto it ; and
for the satisfaction of tliose who doubt, I refer them to Lewis and Clark's Tour thirty-three
years since, before the influence of Traders had deranged the system and truth ofthings^
in these regions. I have often conversed with General Clark, of St. Louis, on tliis subject,
and he told me explicitly, and authorized me to say it to the world, that every tribe on
the Missouri told him they had been to this place, and that the Great Spirit kept the pence
HiiiOj.gst his red children on that ground, where they had smoked with their enemies.

169

into ihe nest of the bird to eat his eggs, one of the eggs hatched ou t in a clap
of thunder, and the Great Spirit catching hold of a piece of the pipe stone
to throw at tlie snalce, moulded it into a man. This man's feet grew fast in
the ground where he stood for many ages, like a great tree, and therefore he
grew very old ; he was older than an hundred men at the present day ; and
at last another tree grew up by the side of him, when a large snake ate them
both off at the roots, and they wandered off together ; from these have
sprung all the people that now inhabit the earth."

The above tradition I found amongst the Upper Missouri Sioux, but which,
when I related to that part of the great tribe of Sioux who inhabit the Upper
Mississippi, they seemed to know nothing about it. The reason for this may
have been, perhaps, as is often the case, owing to the fraud or excessive
ignorance of the interpreter, on whom we are often entirely dependent m
this country ; or it is more probably owing to the very vague and numerous
fables which may often be found, cherished and told by different bands or
families in the same tribe, and relative to the same event.

I shall on a future occasion, give you a Letter on traditions of this kind,
which will be found to be very strange and amusing ; establishing the fact
at the same time, that theories respecting their origin, creation of the world,
&c. &c., are by no means uniform throughout the different tribes, nor even
through an individual tribe ; and that very many of these theories are but
the vagaries, or the ingenious systems of their medicine or mystery-men,
conjured up and taught to their own respective parts of a tribe, for the pur-
pose of gaining an extraordinary influence over the minds and actions of the
remainder of the tribe, whose superstitious minds, under the supernatural
controul and dread of these self-made magicians, are held in a stae of mys-
terious vassalage.

Amongst the Sioux of the Mississippi, and who live in the region of the
Red Pipe Stone Quarry, I found the following and not less strange tradition
on the same subject. " Many ages after the red men were made, when all
the different tribes were at war, the Great Spirit sent runners and called them
all together at the ' Red Pipe.' — He stood on the top of the rocks, and the
red people were assembled in infinite numbers on the plains below. He
took out of the rock a piece of the red stone, and made a large pipe ; he
smoked it over them all ; told them that it was part of their flesh ; that
though they were at war, they must meet at this place as friends ; that it
belonged to them all ; that they must make their calumets from it and smoke
them to him whenever they wished to appease him or get his good-will — the
smoke from his big pipe rolled over them all, and he disappeared in its cloud ;
at the last whifFof his pipe a blaze of fire rolled over the rocks, and melted
their surface — at that moment two squaws went in a blaze of fire under the
two medicine rocks, where they remain to this day, and must be consulted
and propitiated whenever the pipe stone is to be taken away."

The following speech of a Mandan, which was made to me in the Mandan

VOL. II. z

170

village four years since, after I had painted his picture, I have copied from
my note-bo:)k as corroborative of the same facts :

" My brother — You have made my picture and I like it much. My friends
tell me they can see the eyes move, and it must be very good — it must be
parlly alive. I am glad it is done — though many of my people are afraid.
I am a young man, but my heart is strong. I have jumped on to the medi-
cine-rock— 1 have placed my arrow on it and no Mandan can take itaw^ay.*
The red stone is slippery, but my foot was true — it did not slip. My brother,
this pipe which I give to you, I brought from a high mountain, it is toward
the rising sun — many were the pipes that we brought from there — and we
brought them away in peace. We left our totems or marks on the rocks —
we cut them deep in the stones, and they are there now. The Great Spirit
told all nations to meet there in peace, and all nations hid the war-club and
the tomahawk. The Dah-co-tahs, who are our enemies, are very strong —
they have taken up the tomahawk, and the blood of our warriors has run on
the rocks. My friend, we want to visit our medicines — our pipes are old and
worn out. My friend, I wish you to speak to our Great Father about this."
The chief of the Puncahs, on the Upper Missouri, also made the following
allusion to this place, in a speech which he made to me on the occasion of
presenting me a very handsome pipe about four years since : —

"My friend, this pipe, which I wish you to accept, was dug from the
ground, and cut and polished as you now see it, by my hands. I wish you
to keep it, and when you smoke through it, recollect that this red stone is a
part of our flesh. This is one of the last things we can ever give away. Our
enemies the Sioux, have raised the red flag of blood over the Pipe Stone Quarry,
and our medicines there are trodden under foot by them. The Sioux are
many, and we cannot go to the mountain of the red pipe. We have seen all
nations smoking together at that place — but, my brother, it is not so now."f
* The medicine (or leaping) rock is a part of the precipice which has hecome severed
from the main part, standing about seven or eight feet from the wall, just equal in heio-ht
and about seven feet in diameter.

It stands like an immense column of thirty-five feet high, and highly polished on

its top and sides. It requires a daring eifort to leap on to its top from the main wall, and

back again, and many a heart has sighed for the honour of the feat without darino- to make

the attempt. Some few have tried it with success, and left their arrows standino- in its

crevice, several of which are seen there at this time ; others have leapt the chasm and

fallen from the slippery surface on which they could not hold, and suflFered instant death

upon the craggy roclis below. Every young man in the nation is ambitious to perform

this feat; and those who have successfully done it are allowed to boast of it all their lives.

In the sketch already exhibited, there will be seen, a view of the " leaping rock ;" and in

the middle of the picture, a mound, of a conical form, of ten feet height, which was erected

over the body of a distinguished young man who was killed by making this daring effort,

about two years before I was there, and whose sad fate was related to me by a Sionx

chief, who was father of the young man, and was visiting the Red Pipe Stone Quarry,

witli thirty others of his tribe, when we were there, and cried over the grave, as he related

the story to Rlr. Wood and myself, of his son's death.

t Ot my return from the Pipe Stone Quarry, one of the old chiefs of the Sacs, on seeing

171

Such are a few of the stories relating to this curious place, and many others
might be given which I have procured, though they amount to nearly the
same thing, with equal contradictions and equal absurdities.

The position of the Pipe Stone Quarry, is in a direction nearly West from
the Fall of St. Anthony, at a distance of three hundred miles, on the summit
of the dividmg ridge between the St. Peters and the Missouri rivers, being
about equi-distant from either. This dividing ridge is denominated by the
French, the " Coteau des Prairies," and the *' Pipe Stone Quarry" is situ-
ated near its southern extremity, and consequently not exactly on its highest
elevation, as its general course is north and south, and its southern extremity
terminates in a gradual slope.

Our approach to it was from the East, and the asceut, for the distance
of fifty miles, over a continued succession of slopes and terraces, almost
imperceptibly rising one above another, that seemed to lift us to a great
height. The singular character of this majestic mound, continues on the
West side, in its descent toward the Missouri. There is not a tree or busli
to be seen from the highest summit of the ridge, though the eye may range
East and West, almost to a boundless extent, over a surface covered with a
short grass, that is green at one's feet, and about him, but changing to blue
in distance, like nothing but the blue and vastness of the ocean.

The whole surface of this immense tract of country is hard and smooth,
almost without stone or gravel, and coated with a green turf of grass of three
or four inches only in height. Over this the wheels of a carriage would run
as easily, for hundreds of miles, as they could on a Mc Adamized road, and
its graceful gradations would in all parts, admit of a horse to gallop, with
ease to himself and his rider.

The full extent and true character of these vast prairies are but imperfectly
understood by the world yet ; who will agree with me that they are a subject
truly sublime, for contemplation, when 1 assure them, that "a coach and
four" might be driven with ease, (with the exception of rivers and ravines,
which are in many places impassable), over unceasing fields of green,
from the Fall of St. Anthony to Lord Selkirk's Establishment on the Red

some specimens of the stone which I brought with me from that place, observed as

follows : —

" My friend, when I was young, I used to go with our young men to the mountain of
the Red Pipe, and dig out pieces for our pipes. We do not go now ; and our red pipes as
you see, are few. The Dah-co-tah's have spilled the blood of red men on that place, and
the Great Spirit is offended. The white traders have told them to draw their bows upon
us when we go there ; and they have offered us many of the pipes for sale, but we do not
want to smoke them, for we know that the Great Spirit is offended. My mark is on the
rocks in many places, but I shall never see them again. They lie where the Great Spirit
sees them, for his eye is over that place, and he sees everything that is here."

Ke-o-kuck chief of the Sacs and Foxes, wlien I asked him whether he had ever been
there, replied —

" No, I have never seen it; it is iu our enemies' country, — I wish it was in ours — I
would sell it to the whites for a great many boxes of money."

172

River, at the North ; from that to the rnouth of Yellow Stone on tho Mis-
souri— thence to the Platte — to the Arkansas, and Red Rivers of the South,
and through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of more than three
thousand miles.

1 mentioned in a former Letter, that we had been arrested by the Sioux,
on our approach to this place, at the trading-post of Le Blanc, on the
banks of the St. Peters ; and I herein insert the most important part of the
speeches made, and talks held on that momentous occasion, as near as my
friend and I could restore them, from partial notes and recollection. After
chese copper-visaged advocates of their country's rights had assembled about
us, and filled up every avenue of the cabin, the grave council was opened in
the following manner : —

Te-o-kun-hko (the swift man), first rose and said —

•'My friends, I am not a chief, but the son of a chief — I am the son of my
father — he is a chief — and when he is gone away, it is my duty to speak for
him — he is not here — ^but what I say is the talk of his mouth. We have
been told that you are going to the Pipe Stone Quarry. We come now to
ask for what purpose you are going, and what business yovi have to go
there." (' How ! how !' vociferated all of them, thereby a; proving what
was said, giving assent by the word how, which is their word for yes).

" Brothers— \ am a brave, but not a chief — my arrow stands in the top of
the leaping-rock ; all can see it, and all know that Te-o-kun-hko's foot has
been there. (' How ! how I')

" Brothers — We look at you and we see that you are Che- mo-ke-mon
c apitains (white men officers) : we know that you have been sent by
your Government, to see what that place is worth, and we think the white
people want to buy it. (' How, how').

" Brothers — We have seen always that the white people, when they see
anything in our country that they want, send officers to value it, and then if
they can't buy it, they will get it some other way. (* How ! how!')

" Brothers — 1 speak strong, my heart is strong, and I speak fast ; this red
pipe was given to the red men by the Great Spirit — it is a part of our flesh,
and therefore is great medicine. (' How ! how !')

" Brothers — We know that the whites are like a great cloud that rises in
the East, and will cover the whole country. - We know that they will have
all our lands ; but, if ever they get our Red Pipe Quarry they will have to
pay very dear for it. (' How ! how ! how !')

" Brothers — We know that no white man has ever been to the Pipe Stone
Quarry, and our chiefs have often decided in council that no white man shall
ever go to it. (' How ! how !')

" Brothers — You have heard what I have to say, and you can go no fur-
ther, but you must turn about and go back. (' How ! how ! how !')

" Brothers — Yen see that the sweat runs from my face, for I am troubled."
Then I commenced to reply in the following manner : —

173

" My friends, I am sorry that you have mistaken us so much, and the
object of our visit to your country. We are not officers — we are not sent
by any one — we are two poor men travelling to see the Sioux and shake
hands with them, and examine what is curious or interesting in their countiy.
This man who is with me is my friend ; he is a Sa-ga-nosh (an Englishman).

(' How ! how ! how !')

(All rising and shaking hands with him, and a number of them taking out
and showing British medals which were carried in their bosoms.)

" We have heard that the Red Pipe Quarry was a great curiosity, and we
have started to go to it, and we will not be stopped." (Here 1 was inter-
rupted by a grim and black-visaged fellow, who shook his long shaggy locks
as he rose, with his sunken eyes fixed in direst hatred on me, and his fist
brandished within an inch of my face.)

" Pale faces I you cannot speak till we have all done ; you are our
■prisoners — our young men (our soldiers) are about the house, and you must
listen to what we have to say. What has been said to you is true, you must
go back. (' How ! how !')

" We heard the word Saganosh, and it makes our hearts glad ; we shook
hand with our brother — his father is our father — he is our Great Father — he
lives across the big lake — his son is here, and we are glad — we wear our
Great Father the sag-a-nosh on our bosoms, and we keep his face bright* —
we shake hands, but no white man has been to the red pipe and none shall
go. ('How!')

* Many and strong are the recollections of the Sioux and other tribes, of their alliance
with the British in the last and revolutionary wars, of which I have met many curious in-
stances, one of which was correctly reported in the London Globe, from my Lectures,
and I here insert it. —

THE GLOBE AND TRAVELLER.

"^Indian Knowledge of English Affairs — Mr. Catlin, in one of his Lectures on the man-
ners and customs of the North American Indians, during the last week, related a very
cuiious occurrence, which excited a great deal of surprise and some considerable mirth
amongst his highly respectable and numerous audience. Whilst speaking of the great
and warlike tribe of Sioux or Dahcotas, of 40,000 or 50,000, lie stated that many of this
tribe, as well as of several others, although living entirely in the territory of the United
States, and several hundred miles south of her Majesty's possessions, were found cherish-
ing a lasting friendship for the English, whom they denominate Saganosh. And in very
many instances they are to be seen wearing about their necks large silver medals, with
the portrait of George III. in bold relief upon them. These medals were given to them
as badges of merit during the last war with the United States, when these warriors were
employed in the British service.

'' The Lecturer said, that whenever the word Saganosh was used, it seemed to rouse
them at once; that on several occasions when Englishmen had been in his company as
fellow-travellers, they had marked attentions paid them by these Indians as Saganoshes.
And on one occasion, in one of his last rambles in that country, where he had painted
several portraits in a small village of Dahcotas, the chief of the band positively refused
to sit ; alleging as his objection that the pale faces, who were not to be trusted, might do
some injury to his portrait, and his health or his life miglil be affected by it, Tlie painter,

174

" You see (holding a red pipe to the side of his naked arm) that this pipe is
a part of our flesh. The red men are a part of the red stone. (' How, how !')

'* If the white men take away a piece of the red pipe stone, it is a hole
made in our flesh, and the blood will always run. We cannot stop the
blood from running. (' How, how !')

" The Great Spirit has told us that the red stone is only to be used for
pipes, and through them we are to smoke to him. ('How !')

** Why do the white men want to get there ? You have no good object in
view ; we know you have none, and the sooner you go back, the better."
("How, how!")

Muz-za (the iron) spoke next.

" My friends, we do not wish to harm you ; you have heard the words of
our chief men, and you now see that you must go back. (' How, how !')

" Tchan-dee-pah-sha-kah-free (the red pipe stone) was given to us by
the Great Spirit, and no one need ask the price of it, for it is medicine.
('How, how!')

" My friends, I believe what you have told us ; I think your intentions
are good ; but our chiefs have always told us, that no white man was allowed
to go there — and you cannot go." (" How, how !")

as he was about to saddle his horse for his departure, told the Indian that he was a Saga-
nosh, and was going across the Big Salt Lake, and was very sorry that he could not carry
the picture of so distinguished a man. At this intelligence the Indian advanced, and
after a heaity grip of the hand, very carefully and deliberately withdrew from his bosom,
and next to his naked breast, a large silver medal, and turning his face to the painter,
pronounced with great vehemence and emphasis the word Sag-a-nosh 1 The artist, sup-
posing that he had thus gained his point with the Indian Sagamore, was making prepara-
tion to proceed with his work, when the Indian still firmly denied him the privilege —
holding up the face of his Majesty (which had got a superlative brightness by having
been worn for years against his naked breast), he made this singular and significant
speech : — ' When you cross the Big Salt Lake, tell my Great Father that you saw his
face, and it was bright ! ' To this the painter replied, ' I can never see your Great
Father, he is dead I ' The poor Indian recoiled in silence, and returned his medal to his
bosom, entered his wigwam, at a few paces distant, where he seated himself amidst his
family around his fire, and deliberately lighting his pipe, passed it around in silence.

" When it was smoked out he told them the news he had heard, and in a few moments
returned to the traveller again, who was preparing with his party to mount their horses,
and enquired whether the Saganoshes had no chief. The artist replied in the affirmative,
saying that the present chief of the Saganoshes is a young and very beautiful woman.
The Sagamore expressed great surprise and some incredulity at this unaccountable infor-
mation ; and being fully assured by the companions of the artist that his assertion was
true, the Indian returned again quite hastily to his wigwam, called his own and the
neighbouring families into his presence, lit and smoked another pipe, and then communi-
cated the intelligence to them, to their great surprise and amusement ; after which he
walked out to the party about to start off, and advancing to the painter (or Great Medicine
as they called him), with a sarcastic smile on his face, in due form, and with much grace
and effect, he carefully withdrew again from his bosom the polished silver medal, and
turning the face to the painter, said^ ' Tell my Great Mother, that you saw our Great
Father, and tliat we keep his face bright I' "

175

Another. — " My friends, you see I am a young man ; you see on my
war-club two scalps from my enemies' heads ; my hands have been dipped
in blood, but I am a good man. I am a friend to the whites, to the traders;
and they are your friends. I bring them 3000 muskrat skins every year,
which 1 catch in my own traps. (' How, how !')

" We love to go to the Pipe Stone, and get a piece for our pipes ; but
we ask the Great Spirit first. If the white men go to it, they will take it
out, and not fill up the holes again, and the Great Spirit will be offended."
(" How, how, how !")

Another. — " My friends, listen to me ! what I am to say wil' be the truth.
—('How!')

" I brought a large piece of the pipe stone, and gave it to a white man to
make a pipe ; he was our trader, and I wished him to have a good pipe.
The next time I went to his store, I was unhappy when I saw that stone
made into a dish ! ('Eugh !')

" This is the way the white men would use the red pipe stone, if they could
get it. Such conduct would offend the Great Spirit, and make a red man's
heart sick. (* How, how !')

" Brothers, we do not wish to harm you — if you turn about and go back,
you will be well, both you and your horses — you cannot go forward. (' How,
how !')

" We know that if you go to the pipe stone, the Great Spirit looks upon
you — the white people do not think of that. (' How, how !')

" I have no more to sav."

These, and a dozen other speeches to the same effect, having been pro-
nounced, I replied in the following manner :

" My friends, you have entirely mistaken us ; we are no officers, nor are
we sent by any one — the white men do not want the red pipe — it is not
worth their carrying home so far, if you were to give it all to them. Another
thing, they don't use pipes — they don't know how to smoke them.

' How, how !'

^^ My friends, I think as you do, that the Great Spirit has given that place
to the red men for their pipes.

' How, how, how !'

" I give you great credit for the course you are taking to preserve and
protect it ; and I will do as much as any man to keep white men from
taking it away from you.

' How, how !'

" But we have started to go and see it; and we cannot think of being
stopped."

Another rose (interrupting me) : —

" White men ! your words are very smooth ; you have some object in
view 01 vou would not be so determined to go — you have no good design,
and the quicker you turn back the better ; there is no use of talking any

176

more about it — if you think best to go, try it ; that's all I have to say.*'
(" How, how !")

During this scene, the son of Monsr. Le Blanc was standing by, and
seeing this man threatening me so hard by putting his fist near my face :
he several times stepped up to him, and told him to stand back at a respect-
ful distance, or that he would knock him down. After their speaking was
done, I made a few remarks, stating that we should go ahead, which we did
the next morning, by saddling our horses and riding ofF through the midst
of them, as I have before described.

Le Blanc told us, that these were the most disorderly and treacherous
part of the Sioux nation, that they had repeatedly threatened his life, and that
he expected they would take it. He advised us to go back as they ordered;
but we heeded not his advice.

On our way we were notified at several of their villages which we passed,
that we must go back ; but we proceeded on, and over a beautiful prairie
country, of one hundred miles or more, when our Indian guide brought us
to the trading-house of an old acquaintance of mine. Monsieur La From-
boise, who lives very comfortably, and in the employment of the American
Fur Company, near the base of the C6teau, and forty or fifty miles from the
Pipe Stone Quarry.

We rode up unexpectedly, and at full gallop, to his door, when he met us
and addressed us as follows : —

"Ha! Monsr. how do you do? — Quoi ! ha, est ce vous, Monsr. Cata-
line — est il possible ? Oui, oui, vraiment le meme — mon ami, Cataline —
comment se va-t-il ? et combien (pardon me though, for I can speak Eng-
glish). How have you been since I saw you last season ? and how under
Heaven, have you wandered into this wild region, so far from civilization ?
Dismount, dismount, gentlemen, and you are welcome to the comforts,
such as they are, of my little cabin."

•' Monsr. La Fromboise, allow me to introduce to your acquaintance, my
fiiend, and travelling companion, Mr. Wood, of England."

" Monsr. Wood, I am happy to see you, and I hope you will make allow-
ance for the rudeness of my cabin, and the humble manner in which I shall
entertain you."

" 1 assure you, my dear sir, that no apology is necessary ; for your house
looks as delightful as a palace, to Mr. Catlin and myself, who have so
long been tenants of the open air."

" Gentlemen, walk in ; we are surrounded with red folks here, and you
will be looked upon by them with great surprise."

" That's what we want to see exactly. Catlin ! that's fine — oh ! how
lucky we are."

" Well, gentlemen, walk into the other room ; you see I have two rooms
to my house (or rather cabin), but they are small and unhandy. Such as I have
shall be at your service heartily ; and 1 assure you, gentlemen, that this is the

177

happiest moment of my life. I cannot give you feather-beds to sleep on ;
but I have a plenty of new robes, and you, at all events, Monsr. Cataline,
know by this time how to make a bed of them. We can give you plenty of
buffalo meat, buffalo tongues, wild geese, ducks, prairie hens, venison, trout,
young swan, beaver tails, pigeons, plums, grapes, young bear, some green
corn, squash, onions, water-melons, and pommes des terres, some coffee and
some tea."

" My good friend, one-half or one-third of these things (which are all
luxuries to us) would render us happy ; put yourself to no trouble on our
account, and we shall be perfectly happy under your roof."

" I am very sorry, gentlemen, that I cannot treat you as I would be glad
to do ; but you must make up for these things if you are fond of sporting,
for there are plenty of buffaloes about ; at a little distance the prairies are
speckled with them ; and our prairies and lakes abound with myriads of
prairie hens, ducks geese and swan. You shall make me a long visit,
gentlemen, and we will have sport in abundance. I assure you, that I shall
be perfectly happy whilst you are with me. Pardon me a little, while I
order you some dinner, and attend to some Indians who are in my store,
trading, and taking their fall credits."

" That's a fine fellow I'll engage you," said my companion.

" Yes, he is all that. I have known him before ; he is a gentleman, and a
polished one too, every ounce of hitn. You see in this instance how durable
and lasting are the manners of a true gentleman, and how little a life-time of
immersion in the wilderness, amid the rerkless customs of savage life, will
extinguish or efface them. I could name you a number of such, whose sur-
face seems covered with a dross, which once rubbed of, shows a polish
brighter than ever."

We spent a day or two very pleasantly with this fine and hospitable fellow,
until we had rested from the fatigue of our journey ; when he very kindly
joined us with fresh horses, and piloted us to the Pipe Stone Quarry, where
he is now encamped with us, a jolly companionable man, and familiar with
most of the events and traditions of this strange place, which he has visited
on former occasions.*

La Fromboise has some good Indian blood in his veins, and from his
modes of life, as well as from a natural passion that seems to belong to the
French adventurers in these wild regions, he has a great relish for songs and
stories, of which he gives us many, and much pleasure ; and furnishes us
one of the most amusing and gentlemanly companions that could possibly be
found. My friend Wood sings delightfully, also, and as I cannot sing, but
can tell, now and then, a story, with tolerable effect, we manage to pass away

* This gentleman, the summer previous to this, while I was in company with him at
Prairie du Chien, gave me a very graphic account of the Red Pipe Stone Quarry, and
made for me, from recollection, a chart of it, which I yet possess, and which was drawn
with great accuracy.

VOL. II. X A

178

our evenings, in our humble bivouack, over our buffalo meat and prairie hens,
with much fun and amusement. In these nocturnal amusements, I have
done viy part, by relating anecdotes of my travels on the Missouri,
and other parts of the Indian country which I have been over ; and
occasionally reading from my note-book some of the amusing entries I
had formerly made in it, but never have had time to transcribe foi
the world.

As I can't write music, and can (in my own way) write a story, the
readers will acquit me of egotism or partiality, in reporting only my own part
of the entertainments ; which was generally the mere reading a story or two
from my notes which I have with me, or relating some of the incidents
of life which my old travelling companion " Batiste" and I had witnessed
in former years.

Of these, I read one last evening, that pleased my good friend La From-
boise so exceedingly, that I am constrained to copy it into my Letter and
send it home.

This amusing story is one that my man Ba'tiste used to tell to Bogard,
and others with great zest ; describing his adventure one night, in endea-
vouring to procure a medicine-bag , which I had employed him to obtain for
me on the Upper Missouri ; and he used to prelude it thus : —

" Je commence — "

" Dam your commonce, (said Bogard), tell it in English — "

" Pardon, Monsieur, en Americaine — "

" Well, American then, if you please; anything but your darned ^ parlez
vous.' "

" Bien, excusez — now Monsieur Bogard, you must know first place, de
* Medicine- Bags* is mere humbug, he is no medicine in him — no pills ; he is
someting mysterieux. Some witchcraft, suppose. You must know que tous
les sauvages have such tings about him, pour for good luck, Ce n'est que
(pardon) it is only hocus pocus, to keep off witch, suppose. You must know
ces articles can nevare be sold, of course you see dey cannot be buy. So my
friend here, Monsieur Cataline, who have collect all de cuiiosites des pays
sauvages, avait made strong applique to me pour for to get one of dese.
medicine-bags for his Collection curieux, et I had, pour moimeme, le curi-
osite extreme pour for to see des quelques choses ces etranges looking tings
was composL

" I had learn much of dese strange custom, and I know wen de Ingin die,
his medicine-bags is buried wis him.

" Oui, Monsieur, so it never can be got by any boday. Bien. I hap to
tmk one day wen we was live in de mous of Yellow Stone, now is time, and
I avait said to Monsieur Cataline, que pensez vous ? Kon-te-wonda (un des
chefs du) (pardon, one of de chiefs, of de Knisteneux) has die to-day. II
avait une medicine-bag magnifique, et extremement curieux ; il est compose
d'un, it is made f pardon, si vous plait) of de wite wolf skin, ornement et stuff

179

wid tousand tings wich we shall see, ha ? Good luck ! Suppose Monsieur
Cataline, I have seen him just now. I av see de medicine-bag laid on his
breast avec his hands crossed ovare it. Que pensez vous ? I can get him
to-night, ha ? If you will keep him, if you shall not tell, ha ? 'Tis no harm
— 'tis no steal — he is dead, ha ? Well, you shall see. But, would you not
be afraid, Ba'tiste, (said Monsieur Cataline), to take from dis poor fellow
his medicines (or mysteries) on which he has rest all his hopes in dis wocld,
and de world to come? Pardon, je n'ai pas peur ; non, Monsieur, ne rien de
peur. I nevare saw ghost — I have not fear, mais, suppose, it is not right,
exact ; but I have grand disposition pour for to oblige my friend, et le curi-
osite moimeme, pour to see wat it is made of ; suppose to-night I shall go,
ha ? * Well, Ba'tiste, I have no objection (said Monsieur Cataline) if your
heart does not fail you, for 1 will be very glads to get him, and will make you
a handsome present for it, but I think it will be a cold and gloomy kind of
business.' Nevare mind. Monsieur Cataline (I said) provide he is well dead,
perfect dead ! Well, I had see les Knisteneux when dey ave bury de chap
— I ave watch close, and I ave see how de medicine-bags was put. It was
fix pretty tight by some cord around his bellay, and den some skins was
wrap many times around him — he was put down in de hole dug for him, and
some flat stones and some little dirt was laid on him, only till next day,
wen some grand ceremonays was to be perform ovare him, and den de hole
was to be fill up ; now was de only time possibe for de medicine-bag, ha ? I
ave very pretty little wife at dat times, Assinneboin squaw, and we sleep in
one of de stores inside of de Fort, de Trade-house, you know, ha ?

" So you may suppose I was all de day perplex to know how I should
go, somebody may watch — suppose, he may not be dead! not quite
dead, ha ? nevare mind — le jour was bien long, et le nuit dismal, dis-
mal \ oh by gar it was dismal ! plien, plien (pardon) full of appre-
hension, mais sans peur, je riavais pas peur ! So some time aftere
midnights, wen it was bout right time pour go, I made start, very light,
80 my wife must not wake. Ob diable I'imagination ! quel solitude ! well, I
have go very well yet, I am pass de door, and I am pass de gate, and I am
at lengts arrive at de grave ! s{ippose ' now Ba'tiste, courage, courage !
now is de times come.' Well, suppose, I am not fraid of dead man, mais,
perhaps, dese medicine-bag is give by de Grande Esprit to de Ingin for some-
ting ? possibe ! I will let him keep it. I shall go back ! No, Monsieur
Cataline will laughs at me. I must have him, ma foi, mon courage ! so 1
chmb down very careful into de grave, mais, as I descend, my heart rise up
into my mouse ! Oh mon Dieu ! courage Ba'tiste, courage ! ce n'est pas
I'homme dat I fear, mais ie medicine, le medicine. So den I ave hft out de
large stones, I ave put out my head in de dark, and I ave look all de contre
round ; ne personne, ne personne — no bode in sight ! Well, I ave got softly
down on my knees ovare him, (oh, courage ! courage ! oui) and wen I ave
unwrap de robe, lav? all de time say, ' pardon, courage ! pardon, courage!

180

untill I ad got de skins all off de bode ; I ave den take hold of de cord to
untie, niais ! ! (dans I'instant) two cold hands seize me by de wrists ! and I
was just dead — I was petrifact in one instant. Oh St. Esprit 1 I could just
see in de dark two eyes glaring like fire sur upon me ! and den, (oh, eugh !)
it spoke to me, * Who are you V (Sacre, vengeance ! it will not do to deceive
him, no,) * I am Ba'tiste, poor Ba'tiste !' ' Then thou art surely mine, (as
he clenched both arms tight around my boday) lie still Ba'tiste.' Oh, holy
Vierge ! St. Esprit ! O mon Dieu ! I could not breathe ! miserable ! je sui
perdu ! oh pourquoi have I been such fool to get into dese cold, cold arms !
' Ba'tiste ? (drawing me some tighter and tighter!) do you not belong to me,
Ba'tiste V Yes, suppose ! oh diable ! belong ? Oui, oui, je suis certain-
ment perdu, lost, lost, for evare ! Oh ! can you not possibe let me go?. ' No,
Ba'tiste, we must never part.' Grand Dieu ! c'est finis, finis, finis avec
moi ! " Then you do not love me any more, Ba'tiste ?" Quel ! quoi ! what ! !
est ce vous, Wee-7ie-on-ka ? ' Yes, Ba'tiste, it is the Bending Willow who
holds you, she that loves you and will not let you go ? Are you dreaming
Ba'tiste V Oui, diable, !"

•' Well, Ba'tiste, that's a very good story, and very well told ; I presume
you never tried again to get a medicine-bag V

'• Non, Monsieur Bogard, je vous assure, I was satisfy wis de mistakes dat
night, pour for je crois qu'il fut I'Esprit, le Grand Esprit."

After this, my entertaining companions sung several amusing songs, and
then called upon me for another story. Which Mr. Wood had already
heard me tell several times, and which he particularly called for ; as

" THE STORY OF THE DOG,"

and which I began as follows : —

" Well, some time ago, when I was drifting down the mighty Missouri, in a
little canoe, with two hired men, Bogard and Ba'tiste, (and in this manner
did we glide along) amid all the pretty scenes and ugly, that decked the
banks of that river, from the mouth of the Yellow Stone, to St. Louis, a
distance of only two thousand miles ; Bogard and Ba'tiste plied their paddles
and I steered, amid snag and sand-bar — amongst drift logs and herds of
swimming buffaloes — our beds were uniformly on the grass, or upon some
barren beach, which we often chose, to avoid the suffocating clouds of mus-
quiios ; our fire was (by the way we had none at night) kindled at sundown,
under some towering bluff — our supper cooked and eaten, and we off again,
floating some four or five miles after nightfall, when our canoe was lauded
at random, on some unknown shore. In whispering silence and darkness our
buffalo robes were drawn out and spread upon the grass, and our bodies
stretched upon them ; our pistols were belted to our sides, and our rifles
always slept in our arms. In this way we were encamped , and another robe
drawn over us, head and foot, under which our iron slumbers were secure
tjrom the tread of all foes saving that of the sneaking gangs of wolves, who

181

were nightly serenading us with their harmonics, and often quarrelling for the
privilege of chewing off the corners of the robe, which served us as a blanket.
' Caleb' (the grizzly bear) was often there too, leaving the print of his deep
impressed footsteps where he had perambulated, reconnoitring, though not
disturbing us. Our food was simply buffalo meat from day to day, and
from morning till night, for coffee and bread we had not. The fleece (hump)
of a fat cow, was the luxury of luxuries ; and for it we would step ashore, or
as often level our rifles upon the * slickest' of the herds from our canoe, as
they were grazing upon the banks. Sometimes the antelope, the mountain-
sheep, and so the stately elk contributed the choicest cuts for our little
larder ; and at others, while in the vicinity of war-parties, where we dared
not to fire our guns, our boat was silently steered into some little cove or
eddy, our hook and line dipped, and we trusted to the bite of a catfish for
our suppers : if we got him, he was sometimes too large and tough ; and if
we got him not, we would swear, (not at all) and go to bed.

♦* Our meals were generally cooked and eaten on piles of driftwood, where
our fire was easily kindled, and a peeled log (which we generally straddled)
did admirably well for a seat, and a table to eat from.

" In this manner did we glide away from day to day, with anecdote and fun
to shorten the time, and just enough of the spice of danger to give vigour
to our stomachs, and keenness to our appetites — making and meeting acci-
dent and incident sufficient for a * book.' Two hundred miles from the
mouth of Yellow Stone brought us to the village of the kind and gentle-
manly Mandans. With them I lived for some time — was welcomed — taken
gracefully by the arm, by their plumed dignitaries, and feasted in their
hospitable lodges. Much have 1 already said of these people, and more of
them, a great deal, I may say at a future day ; but now, to our ' story,'
As preamble, however, having launched our light canoe at the Mandan
village, shook hands with the chiefs and braves, and took the everlasting
farewell glance at those models, which I wept to turn from ; we dipped our
paddles, and were again gliding off upon the mighty water, on our way to
St. Louis. We travelled fast, and just as the village of the Mandans,
and the bold promontory on which it stands, were changing to blue, and
* dwindling into nothing,' we heard the startling yells, and saw in distance
behind us, the troop that was gaining upon us ! their red shoulders were
bounding over the grassy bluffs — their hands extended, and robes waving
with signals for us to stop ! In a few moments they were opposite to us on
the bank, and I steered my boat to the shore. They were arranged for my
reception, with amazement and orders imperative stamped on every brow.
' Mi-neek-e-sunk-te-ka' (the mink), they exclaimed, * is dying ! the pic-
ture which you made of her is too much like her — you put so much of her
into it, that when your boat took it away from our village, it drew a part of
her life away with it — she is bleeding from her mouth — she is puking up all her
blood ; by taking that away, you are drawing the strings out of her heart,

182

and they will soon break ; we must take her picture back, and then she will
get well — your medicine is great, it is too great ; but we wish you well.*
Mr. Kipp, their Trader, came with the party, and interpreted as above. I
unrolled my bundle of portraits, and though I was unwilling to part with it
(for she was a beautiful girl), yet I placed it in their hands, telling them
that I wished her well ; and I was exceedingly glad to get my boat peace-
ably under way again, and into the current, having taken another and
everlasting shake of the hands. They rode back at full speed with the por-
trait ; but intelligence which 1 have since received from there, informs me
tliat the girl died ; and that I am for ever to be considered as the cause of
her misfortunes. This is not the ' story,' however, but I will tell it as soon
as I can come to it. We dropped off, and down the rolling current again,
from day to day, until at length the curling smoke of the Riccarees announced
their village in view before us !

"We trembled and quaked, for all boats not stoutly armed, steal by them
in the dead of night. We muffled our paddles, and instantly dropped under
some willows, where we listened to the yelping, barking rabble, until sable
night had drawn her curtain around (though it was not sable, for the moon
arose, to our great mortification and alarm, in full splendour and brightness),
when, at eleven o'clock, we put out to the middle of the stream — silenced
our paddles, and trusted to the current to waft us by them. We lay close
in our boat with a pile of green bushes over us, making us nothing in the
world but a ' floating tree-top.' On the bank, in front of the village, was
enacting at that moment, a scene of the most frightful and thrilling nature.
An hundred torches were swung about in all directions, giving us a full view
of the group that were assembled, and some fresh scalps were hung on poles,
and were then going through the nightly ceremony that is performed about
them for a certain number of nights, composed of the frightful and appalling
shrieks, and yells, and gesticulations of the scalp-dance*

" In addition to this multitude of demons (as they looked), there were some
hundreds of cackling women and girls bathing in the river on the edge of a
sand-bar, at the lower end of the village ; at which place the stream drifted our
small craft in, close to the shore, till the moon lit their shoulders, their
foreheads, chins, noses ! and they stood, half-merged, like mermaids, and
gazed upon us ! singing ' Chee-na-see-nun, chee-na- see-nun ke-mon-shoo
kee-ne-he-na, ha-way-tah ? shee-sha, shee-sha ;' ' How do you do, how do
you do ? where are you going, old tree ? Come here, come here.' * Lah-
kee-hoon ! lah-kee-hoon ! natok, catogh V (' A canoe, a canoe ! see the
paddle ! !') In a moment the songs were stopped ! the lights were out —

• But a few weeks before I left the moutli of Yellow Stone, the news arrived at that
place, that a party of trappers and traders had burnt two Riccarees to death, on the prairies,
and M'Kenzie advised me not to stop at the Riccarree village, but to pass them in the
night ; and after I had got some hundreds of miles below them, I learned that they were
da nc'ing two white men's scalps taken in reveng'e for that inhuman act.

183

the village in an instant was in darkness, and dogs were muzzled I and
nimbly did our paddles ply the water, till spy-glass told us at morning's
dawn, that the bank and boundless prairies of grass and green that were all
around us, were free from following footsteps of friend or foe. A sleepless
night had passed, and lightly tripped our bark, and swift, over the swimming
tide during that day ; which was one, not of pleasure, but of trembling ex-
citement ; while our eyes were continually scanning the distant scenes that

were behind us, and our muscles throwing us forward with tireless energy,
♦ « • * * « «

* * Night came upon us again, and we landed at the foot

of a towering bluff, where the musquitoes met us with ten thousand kicks
and cuffs, and importunities, until we were choked and strangled into almost
irrevocable despair and madness.*

"A 'snaggy bend' announced its vicinity just below us by its roaring;
and hovering night told us, that we could not with safety ' undertake it.'

" The only direful alternative was now in full possession of us, (I am
not going to tell the ' story' yet), for just below us was a stately bluff of 200
feet in height, rising out of the water, at an angle of forty-five degrees, en-
tirely denuded in front, and constituted of clay. ' Montons, montons !' said
Ba'tiste, as he hastily clambered up its steep inclined plane on his hands
and feet, over its parched surface, which had been dried in the sun, ' essayez
vous, essayez! ce'n'est pas difficile Monsr. Cataline,' exclaimed he, from
an elevation of about 100 feet from the water, where he had found a level
platform, of some ten or fifteen feet in diameter, and stood at its brink,
waving his hand over the twilight landscape that lay in partial obscurity
beneath him.

" ' Nous avons ici une belle place pour for to get some slips, some coot
slips, vare de dam Riccaree et de dam muskeet shall nevare get si haut,
by Gar ! montez, montez en haut.'

" Bogard and I took our buffalo robes and our rifles, and with difficulty
hung and clung along in the crevices with fingers and toes, until we reached
the spot. We found ourselves about half-way up the precipice, which
continued almost perpendicular above us ; and within a few yards of us, on
each side, it was one unbroken slope from the bottom to the top. In this
snug little nook were we most appropriately fixed, as we thought, for a
warm summer's night, out of the reach entirely of musquitoes, and all other
earthly obstacles, as we supposed, to the approaching gratification, for which
the toils and fatigues of the preceding day and night, had so admirably pre-
pared us. We spread one of our robes, and having ranged ourselves side
by side upon it, and drawn the other one over us, we commenced, without
further delay, upon the pleasurable forgetfulness of toils and dangers which

* The greater part of the world can never, I am sure, justly appreciate the meaning and
ajiplication of the above sentence, unless they have an opportunity to encounter a swarm
of these tormenting insects, on the banks of the Missouri or Mississippi river.

184

had agitated us for the past day and night. We had got just about to thv.t
stage of our enjoyment which is almost resistless, and nearly bidding defi-
ance to every worldly obstrusive obstacle, when the pattering of rain on out
buffalo robes opened our eyes to the dismal scene that was getting up about
us ! My head was out, and on the watch ; but the other two skulls were
flat upon the ground, and there chained by the unyielding links of iron
slumber. The blackest of all clouds that ever swept hill tops of grass, of
clay, or towering rock, was banging about us — its lightning's glare was in-
cessantly flashing us to blindness ; and the giddy elevation on which we
were perched, seemed to tremble with the roar and jar of distant, and
the instant bolts and cracks of present thunder ! The rain poured and
fell in torrents (its not enough) ; it seemed floating around and above us
in waves succeeding waves, which burst upon the sides of the immense ava-
lanche of clay that was above, and slid in sheets, upon us ! Heavens ! what a
scene was here. The river beneath us and in distance, with windings infinite^
whitening into silver, and trees, to deathlike paleness, at the lightning's
flash! AH about us was drenched in rain and mud. At this juncture,
poor Ba'tiste was making an effort to raise his head and shoulders — he was
in agony ! he had slept himself, and slipt himself partly from the robe, and
his elbows were fastened in the mud.

" ' Oh sacre, 'tis too bad by Gar ! we can get some slips nevare.'

" 'Ugh ! (replied Yankee Bogard) we shall get ' slips' enough directly, by
darn, for we are all afloat, and shall go into the the river by and by, in the
twinkling of a goat's eye, if we don't look out.'

"We were nearly afloat, sure enough, and our condition growing more and
more dreary every moment, and our only alternative was, to fold up our
nether robe and sit upon it ; hanging the other one over our heads, which
formed a roof, and shielded the rain from us. To give compactness to the
trio, and bring us into such shape as would enable the robe to protect us
all, we were obliged to put our backs and occiputs together, and keep our
heads from nodding. In this way we were enabled to divide equally the
robe that we sat upon, as well as receive mutual benefit from the one that was
above us. We thus managed to protect ourselves in the most important
points, leaving our feet and legs (from necessity) to the mercy of mud.

"Thus we were re-encamped 'A pretty mess' (said I), we look like
the * three graces;' — 'de tree grace, by Gar!' said Ba'tiste. 'Grace!
(whispered Bogard) yes, it's all grace here ; and I believe we'll all be buried
in grace in less than an hour.'

" ' Monsr. Cataline ! excusez my back, si voiis plait. Bogard ! comment,
comment ? — ^bonne nuit. Messieurs. Oh ! mon Dieu, mon Dieu ! Je vous rends
grace — je vous prie pour for me sauver ce nuit — delivrez nous ! delivrez
nous ! Je vous adore. Saint Esprit — la Vierge Marie — oh je vous rends
grace ! pour for de m'avoir conserve from de dam Riccree et de diable mus-
keet. Eh bien ! eh bien !'

185

" In this miserable and despairing mood poor Ba'tiste dropped off gradually
into a most tremendous sleep, whilst Bogard and I were holding on to our
corners of the robe — recounting over the dangers and excitements of the day
and night past, as well as other scenes of our adventurous lives, whilst we
laid (or rather sat) looking at the lightning, with our eyes shut. Ba'tiste
snored louder and louder, until sleep had got her strongest grip upon him ;
and his specific gravity became so great, that he pitched forward, pulling
our corners of the robe nearly off from our heads, reducing us to the neces-
sity of drawing upon them till we brought the back of his head in contact
with ours, again, and his body in an erect posture, when he suddenly ex-
claimed.

" * Bon jour, Monsr. Bogard : bon jour, Monsr. Cataline ; n'est ce pas
morning, pretty near V

'* * No, its about midnight.'

" * Quel temps V

" Why it rains as hard as ever,

" ' Oh diable, I wish I was to hell.'

" * You may be there yet before morning, by darn.'

" ' Pardon ! pardon, Monsr Bogard — I shall not go to night, not to night,
I was joke — mais ! dis is not joke, suppose — oh vengeance ! I am slip down
considerable — ^mais I shall not go to hell quite — I am slip off de seat ! '

" ' What ! you are sitting in the mud ? '

" ' Oui, Bogard, in de muds ! mais, I am content, my head is not in demud.
You see Bogard, I avait been sleep, et I raisee my head pretty suddain, and
keepee my e back e straight, et I am slip off of de seat. Now, Monsr.

Bogard you shall keepee you head straight and moove leet, at

de bottom ? ■ remercie, Bogard, remercie, eh bien,

ah well ha-ha-h a

— by Gar, Bogard, I have a de good joke, Monsr. Cataline will paintez
my likeeness as I am now look — he will paint us all — I am tink he will

make putty coot view ? ha-ha-ha-a we should see very putty landeescape

aboutee de legs, ha ? Ha ha h a a.'

"Oh, Ba'tiste, for Heaven's sake stop your laughing and go to sleep; we'll
talk and laugh about this all day to-morrow.

" ' Pardon, Monsr. Cataline, (excusez) have you got some slips ?'

" No, Ba'tiste, I have not been asleep. Bogard has been entertaining me
these two hours whilst you was asleep, with a description of a buflfalo hunt,
which took place at the mouth of Yellow Stone, about a year ago. It must
have been altogether a most splendid and thrilhng scene, and I have been
paying the strictest attention to it, for I intend to write it down and send it
to New York for the cits to read."

" ' I like'e dat much, Monsr. Cataline, and I shall take much plaisir pout
vous donner to give descript of someting, provide you will write him
down, ha?'

VOL. II. B B

186

" Well Ba'tiste, go on, I am endeavouring to learn everything that's curioita
and entertaining, belonging to this country.

(c I WTpii Monsr. Cataline, I shall tell you someting very much entertain,
mais, but, you will nevare tell somebody how we have been fix to night ?
ha?'

" No, Ba'tiste, most assuredly I shall never mention it nor make painting
of it.

" * Well, je commence, — diable Bogard ! you shall keep your back straight
you must sit up, ou il n'est pas possibe for to keep de robe ovare all. Je
commence, Mons. Cataline, to describe some Dog Feast, which I attend
among de dam Pieds noirs. I shall describe some grande, magnifiqne cere-
monay, and you will write him down ? '
" Yes, I'll put it on paper.

" ' Pardon, pardon, I am get most to slip, I shall tell him to-morrow, per-
haps I shall eh bien ; — but you will nevare tell how we look, ha !

Monsr. Cataline ? '

" No Ba'tiste, I'll never mention it.

" ' Eh bien bon nuit.'

" In this condition we sat, and in this manner we nodded away the night,
as far as I recollect of it, catching the broken bits of sleep, (that were
even painful to us when we got them), until the morning's rays at length
gave us a view of the scene that was around us ! ! Oh, all ye brick- makers,
ye plasterers, and soft-soap manufacturers ! put all your imaginations in a fei'-
ment together, and see if ye can invent a scene like this ! Here was a * fix'
to be sure. The sun arose in splendour and in full, upon this everlasting and
boundless scene of * saft soap' and grease, which admitted us not to move.
The whole hill was constituted entirely of tough clay, and on each side and
above us there was no possibility of escape; and one single step over the
bnnk of the place where we had ascended, would inevitably have launched
us into the river below, the distance of an hundred feet ! Here, looking like
hogs just risen from a mud puddle, or a buffalo bull in his wallow, we sat,
(and had to sit,) admiring the wide-spread and beautiful landscape that lay
steeping and smoking before us, and our little boat, that looked like a nut-
shell beneath us, hanging at the shore ; telling stories and filling up the
"while with nonsensical garrulity, until the sun's warming rays had licked up
the mud, and its dried surface, about eleven o'clock, gave us foothold, when we
cautiously, but safely descended to the bottom; and then, at the last jump,
which brought his feet to terra jfirma, Ba'tiste exclaimed, ' Well, we have
cheatee de dam muskeet, ha ! ' "

And this, reader, is not ' the story,' but one of the little incidents which
stood exactly in the way, and could not well be got over without a slight
notice, being absolutely necessary, as a key, or kind of glossary, for the
proper understanding of the tale that is to be told. There is blood and
butchery in the story that is now to be related ; and it should be reax.1 by

187

every one who would form a correct notion of the force of Indian super-
stitions.

Three mighty warriors, proud and vahant, h"cked the dust, and all in
consequence of one of the portraits I painted ; and as my brush was the
prime mover of all these misfortunes, and my life was sought to heal the
wound, I must be supposed to be knowing to and familiar with the whole
circumstances, which were as — (I was going to say, as follow) but my want
of time and your want of patience, compel me to break off here, and I
promise to go right on with the story of the Dog in my next Letter, aad I
advise the reader not to neglect or overlook it.

188

LETTER— No. 55.

RED PIPE STONE QUARRY, COTEAU DBS PRAIRIES.

Well, to proceed with the Story of the Dog, which I promised ; (after
which I shall record the tale of Wi-jun-jon, (the pigeon's egg head), which
was also told by me during the last night, before we retired to rest.

" I think I said that my little canoe had brought us down the Missouri,
about eight hundred miles below the mouth of Yellow Stone, when we landed
at Laidlaw's Trading-house, which is twelve hundred miles above civilization
and the city of St. Louis. If I did not say it, it is no matter, for it was even
so ; and ' Ba'tiste and Bogard who had paddled, and I who had steered,'
threw our little bark out upon the bank, and taking our paddles in our hands,
and our 'plunder upon our backs, crossed the plain to the American Fur
Company's Fort, in charge of Mr. Laidlaw, who gave us a hearty welcome ;
and placed us in an instant at his table, which happened at that moment to
be stationed in the middle of the floor, distributing to its surrounding guests
the simple blessings which belong to that fair and silent land of buftalo-
tongues and beavers' tails ! A bottle of good Madeira wine sprung (k i 'in-
stant) upon the corner of the table, before us, and swore, point blank, to the
welcome that was expressed in every feature of our host. After the usual
salutations, the news, and a glass of wine, Mr. Laidlaw began tlius : —
* Well, my friend, you have got along well, so far ; and I am glad to see
you. You have seen a great many fine Indians since you left here, and
have, no doubt, procured many interesting and valuable portraits ; but there
has been a deal of trouble about the ' pictures,' in this neighbourhood, since
you went away. Of course, you have heard nothing of it at the Yellow Stone ;
but amongst us, I assure you, there has not a day passed since you left,
without some fuss or excitement about the portraits. The * Dog' is not yet
dead, though he has been shot at aeverabtimes, and had his left arm broken.
The * Little Bear's' friends have overtaken the brother of the Dog, that fine
fellow whom you painted, and killed him ! They are now sensible that they
have sacrificed one of the best men in the nation, for one of the greatest
rascals ; and they are more desperately bent on revenge than ever. They
have made frequent enquiries for you, knowing that you had gone up the
river ; alleging that you had been the cause of these deaths, and that if the
Dog could not be found, they should look to you for a settlement of that
unfortunate affair !

" ' That unlucky business, taken altogether, has been the greatest piece of
medicine (mystery), and created the greatest excitement amongst the Sioux,

anything that has happened since I came into the country. My dear Sir,

189

you must not continue your voyage down the river, in your unprotected
condition. A large party of the ' Little Bear's' band, are now encamped on
the river below, and for you to stop there (which you might be obliged to
do), would be to endanger your life.' " * • * Reader, sit still, and let me
change ends with my story, (which is done in one momeat,) and then, froir.
a relation of the circumstances which elicited the friendly advice and caution
of Mr. Laidlaw just mentioned, you will be better enabled to understand the
nature of the bloody affair which I am undertaking to relate.

" About four months previous to the moment I am now speaking of, I had
passed up the Missouri river by this place, on the steam-boat Yellow Stone,
on which I ascended the Missouri to the mouth of Yellow Stone river. While
going up, this boat, having on board the United States Indian agent, Major
Sanford — Messrs. Pierre, Chouteau, McKenzie of the American Fur Com-
pany, and myself, as passengers, stopped at this trading-post, and remained
several weeks ; where were assembled six hundred families of Sioux Indians,
their tents being pitched in close order on an extensive prairie on the bank
of the river.

" ' This trading-post, in charge of Mr. Laidlaw, is the concentrating place,
and principal trading depot, for this powerful tribe, who number, when all
taken together, something like forty or fifty thousand. On this occasion,
five or six thousand had assembled to see the steam-boat and meet the In-
dian agent, which, and whom they knew were to arrive about this time.
During the few weeks that we remained there, I was busily engaged painting
my portraits, for here were assembled the principal chiefs and medicine-men
of the nation. To these people, the operations of my brush were entirely
new and unaccountable, and excited amongst them the greatest curiosity
imaginable. Every thing else (even the steam-boat) was abandoned for the
pleasure of crowding into my pdintlng-room, and witnessing the result of
each fellow's success, as he came out from under the operation of my brush.

" They had been at first much afraid oi the consequences that might flow
from so strange and unaccountable an operation ; but having been made to
understand my views, they began to look upon it as a great honour, and
afforded me the opportunities that I desired ; exhibiting the utmost degree
of vanity for their appearance, both as to features and dress. The conse-
quence was, that my room was filled with the chiefs who sat around, arranged
according to the rank or. grade which they held in the estimation of their
tribe ; and in this order it became necessary for me to paint them, to the
exclusion of those who never signalized themselves, and were without any
distinguishing character in society.

" The first man on the list, was Ha-wan-ghee-ta(one horn), head chief of
the nation, of whom I have heretofore spoken ; and after him the subordinate
chiefs, or chiefs of bands, according to the estimation in which they were held
by the chief and the tribe. My models were thus placed before me, whether
ugly or beautiful, all the same, and I saw at once there was to be trouble

190

somewhere, as I could not paint them all. The medicine-men or high
priests, who are esteemed by many the oracles of the nation, and the most
important men in it — becoming jealous, commenced their harangues, out-
side of the lodge, telling them that they were all fools — that those who were
painted would soon die in consequence ; and that these pictures, which had
life to a considerable degree in them, would live in the hands of white men
after they were dead, and make them sleepless and endless trouble.

"Those whom I had painted, though evidently somewhat alarmed, were
unwilling to acknowledge it, and those whom I had not painted, unwiUing
to be outdone in courage, allowed me the privilege ; braving and defying
the danger that they were evidently more or less in dread of. Feuds began
to arise too, among some of the chiefs of the different bands, who (not unlike
some instances amongst the chiefs and warriors of our own country), had
looked upon their rival chiefs with unsleeping jealousy, until it had grown
into disrespect and enmity. An instance of this kind presented itself at
this critical juncture, in this assembly of inflammable spirits, which changed
in a moment, its features, from the free and jocular garrulity of an Indian
levee, to the frightful yells and agitated treads and starts of an Indian battle!
I had in progress at this time a portrait of Mah-to-tchee-ga (little bear) ; of
the Onc-pa-pa band, a noble fine fellow, who was sitting before me as I
was painting (plate 273). I was painting almost a profile view of his face,
throwing a part of it into shadow, and had it nearly finished, when an Indian
by the name of Shon-ka (the dog), chief of the Caz-a-zshee-ta band (plate
275) ; an ill-natured and surly man — despised by the chiefs of every other
band, entered the wigwam in a sullen mood, and seated himself on the floor
in front of my sitter, where he could have a full view of the picture in its
operation. After sitting a while with his arms folded, and his lips stiffly
arched with contempt ; he sneeringly spoke thus : —

' ' Mah-to-tchee-ga is but half a man.' • * * *

* * " Dead silence ensued for a moment, and nought was in
motion save the eyes of the chiefs, who were seated around the room, and
darting their glances about upon each other in listless anxiety to hear the
sequel that was to follow ! During this interval, the eyes of Mah-to-tchee-ga
had not moved — his lips became slightly curved, and he pleasantly asked, in
low and steady accent, ' Who says that?' ' Shon-ka says it,' was the reply ;
' and Shon-ka can prove it.' At this the eyes of Mah-to-tchee-ga, which
had not yet moved, began steadily to turn, and slow, as if upon pivots, and
when they were rolled out of their sockets till they had fixed upon the ob-
ject of their contempt ; his dark and jutting brows were shoving down in trem-
bling contention, with the blazing rays that were actually burning with
contempt, the object that was before them. ' Why does Shon-ka say it V

" ' Aak We-chash-a-wa-ko7i (the painter), he can tell you ; he knows you
are but half a man — he has painted but one half of your face, and krtows
the other half is good for nothing !'

191

*' ' Let the painter say it, and I will believe it ; but when the Dog says it
let him prove it.'

** ' Shon-ka said it, and Shon-ka can prove it ; if Mah-to-tchee-ga be a man,
and wants to be honoured by the white men, let him not be ashamed : but
let him do as Shon-ka has done, give the white man a horse, and then let
him see the whole of your face without being ashamed.'

" ' When Mah-to-tchee-ga kills a white man and steals his horses, he may
be ashamed to look at a white man until he brings him a horse ! When
Mah-to-tchee-ga waylays and murders an honourable and a brave Sioux,
because he is a coward and not brave enough to meet him in fair combat,
then he may be ashamed to look at a white man till he has given him a
horse ! Mah-to-tchee-ga can look at any one ; and he is now looking at
an old woman and a coward !'

"This repartee, which had lasted for a few minutes, to the amusement and
excitement of the chiefs, being ended thus : — The Dog rose suddenly from the
ground, and wrapping himself in his robe, left the wigwam, considerably agi-
tated, having the laugh of all the chiefs upon him.

" The Little Bear had followed him with his piercing eyes until he left the
door, and then pleasantly and unmoved, resumed his position, where he sat
a few minutes longer, until the portrait was completed. He then rose, and
in the most graceful and gentlemanly manner, presented to me a very beau-
tiful shirt of buckskin, richly garnished with quills of the porcupine, fringed
with scalp-locks (honourable memorials) from his enemies' heads, and
painted, with all his battles emblazoned on it. He then left my wigwam,
and a few steps brought him to the door of his own, where the Dog inter-
cepted him, and asked, ' What meant Mah-to-tchee-ga by the last words
that he spoke to Shon-ka?' ' Mah-to-tchee-ga said it, and Shon-ka is not
a fool — that is enough.' At this the Dog walked violently to his own
lodge ; and the Little Bear retreated into his, both knowing from looks and
gestures what was about to be the consequence of their altercation.

" The Little Bear instantly charged his gun, and then (as their custom is)
threw himself upon his face, in humble supplication to the Great Spirit for
his aid and protection. His wife, in the meantime, seeing him agitated, and
fearing some evil consequences, without knowing anything of the prelimi-
naries, secretly withdrew the bullet from his gun, and told him not of it.

" The Dog's voice, at this moment, was heard, and recognized at the door
of Mah-to-tchee-ga's lodge, — * If Mah-to-tchee-ga be a whole man, let
him come out and prove it ; it is Shon-ka that calls him !'

" His wife screamed ; but it was too late. The gun was in his hand, and
he sprang out of the door — both drew and simultaneously fired ! The Dog
fled uninjured ; but the Little Bear lay weltering in his blood (strange to ^
say !) with all that side of his face entirely shot away, which had been left
out of the picture ; and, according to the prediction of the Dog, * good for
tiothing;' carrying away one half of the jaws, and the flesh from the nostrils

192

and comer of tl;e mouth, to the ear, including one eye, and leaving the
jugular vein entirely exposed. Here was a ' coup ;' and any one accus-
tomed to the thrilling excitement that such scenes produce in an Indian
village, can form some idea of the frightful agitation amidst several thousand
Indians, who were divided into jealous bands or clans, under ambitious and
rival chiefs ! In one minute, a thousand guns and bows were seized ! A
thousand thrilling yells were raised ; and many were the fierce and darting
warriors who sallied round the Dog for his protection — he fled amidst a
shower of bullets and arrows ; but his braves were about him ! The blood
of the Onc-pa-pas was roused, and the indignant braves of that gallant
band rushed forth from all quarters, and, swift upon their heels, were hot for
vengeance ! On the plain, and in full view of us, for some time, the whizzing
arrows flew, and so did bullets, until the Dog and his brave followers were
lost in distance on the prairie ! In this rencontre, the Dog had his left arm
broken ; but succeeded, at length, in making his escape.

" On the next day after this affair took place, the Little Bear died of his
wound, and was buried amidst the most pitiful and heart-rending cries of his
distracted wife, whose grief was inconsolable at the thought of having been
herself the immediate and innocent cause of his death, by depriving him of
his supposed protection.

'' This marvellous and fatal transaction was soon talked through the vil-
lage, and the eyes of all this superstitious multitude were fixed upon me as
the cause of the calamity — my paintings and brushes were instantly packed,
and all hands, both Traders and Travellers, assumed at once a posture of
defence,

" I evaded, no doubt, in a great measure, the concentration of their im-
mediate censure upon me, by expressions of great condolence, and by dis-
tributing liberal presents to the wife and relations of the deceased ; and by
uniting also with Mr. Laidlaw and the other gentlemen, in giving him
honourable burial, where we placed over his grave a handsome Sioux lodge,
and hung a white flag to wave over it.

" On this occasion, many were the tears that were shed for the brave and
honourable Mah-to-tchee-ga, and all the warriors of his band swore sleep-
less vengeance on the Dog, until his life should answer for the loss of their
chief and leader.

" On the day that he was buried, I started for the mouth of Yellow Stone,
and while I was gone, the spirit of vengeance had pervaded nearly all the
Sioux country in search of the Dog, who had evaded pursuit. His brother,
however (plate 274), a noble and honourable fellow, esteemed by ail
who Knew him, fell in their way in an unlucky hour, when their thirst for
vengeance was irresistible, and they slew him. Repentance deep, and grief
wore the result of so rash an act, when they beheld a brave and worthy man
fall for so worthless a character ; and as they became exasperated, the spirit
of revenge grew more desperate than ever, and they swore they never would

193

lay down their arms or embrace tliei'r wives and children until venge
full and complete, should light upon the head that deserved it. This brings
us again to the first part of my story, and in this state were things in that
part of the country, when I was descending the river, four months after-
wards, and landed my canoe as I before stated, at Laidlaw's trading-house.

" The excitement had been kept up all summer amongst these people, and
their superstitions bloated to the full brim, from circumstances so well cal-
culated to feed and increase them. Many of them looked to me at once as
the author of all these disasters, considering I knew that one half of the
man's face was good for nothing, or that I would not have left it out of the
picture, and that I must therefore have foreknown the evils that were to flow
from the omission ; they consequently resolved that I was a dangerous man,
and should suffer for my temerity in case the Dog could not be found. Councils
had been held, and in all the solemnity of Indian medicine and mystery, I
had been doomed to die ! At one of these, a young warrior of the One-pa-
pa band, arose and said, ' The blood of two chiefs has just sunk into the
ground, and an hundred bows are bent which are ready to shed more ! on
whom shall we bend them ? I am a friend to the Avhite men, but here is
one whose medicine is too great — he is a great medicine-man ! his medicine
is too great ! he was the death of Mah-to-tchee-ga ! he made only one side
of his face ! he would not make the other — the side that he made was alive ;
the other was dead, and Shonka shot it off! How is this? Who is to
die.'

" After him, Tah-zee-kee-da-cha (torn belly), of the Yankton band, arose
and said — ' Father, this medicine-man has done much harm ! You told
our chiefs and warriors, that they must be painted — you said he was a
good man, and we believed you ! — you thought so, my father, but you see
what he has done ! — he looks at our chiefs and our women and then makes
them alive ! ! In this way he has taken our chiefs away, and he can trouble
their spirits when they are dead ! — they will be unhappy. If he can make
them alive by looking at them, he can do us much harm ! — you tell us that
they are not alive — we see their eyes move ! — their eyes follow us wherever
we go, that is enough ! I have no more to say ! ' After him, rose a young
man of the Onc-pa-pa band * Father ! you know that I am the brother
of Muh-to-tchee-ga ! — you know that I loved him — both sides of his face
were good, and the medicine-man knev/ it also ! Why was half of his face
left out ? He never was ashamed, but always looked white man in the face !
Why was that side of his face shot ofl"? Your friend is not our friend, and
has forfeited his life — ^we want you to tell us where he is — we want to see
him !'

" Then rose Toh-ki-e-to (a medicine-man) of the Yankton band, and
principal orator of the nation.) * My friend, these are young men that
speak — I am not afraid ! your white medicine-man painted my picture, and
it was good — I am glad of it — I am very glad to see that I shall live aft^~

VOL. II, C C

194

I am dead ! — I am old and not afraid ! — some of our young men are foolish
I know that this man put many of our buffaloes in his book ! for I was
with him, and we have had no buffaloes since to eat, it is true — ^but I am
not afraid ! ! his medicine is great and I wish him well — we are friends !'

" In this wise was the subject discussed by these superstitious people du-
ring my absence, and such were the reasons given by my friend Mr. Laidlaw,
for his friendly advice ; wherein he cautioned me against exposing my life in
their hands, advising me to take some other route than that which I was
pursuing down the river, where I would find encamped at the mouth of
Cabri river, eighty miles below, several hundred Indians belonging to the
Little Bear's band, and I might possibly fall a victim to their unsatiated
revenge. I resumed my downward voyage in a few days, however, with my
little canoe, which ' Ba'tiste and Bogard paddled and I steered,' and passed
their encampment in peace, by taking the opposite shore. The usual friendly
invitation however, was given (which is customary on that river), by skipping
several rifle bullets across the river, a rod or two ahead of us. To those
invitations we paid no attention, and (not suspecting who we were), they
allowed us to pursue our course in peace and security. Thus rested
the affair of the Dog and its consequences, until I conversed with Major
Bean, the agent for these people, who arrived in St. Louis some weeks after
I did, bringing later intelligence from them, assuring me that * the Dog
had at length been overtaken and killed, near the Black-hills, and that the
affair might now for ever be considered as settled.' "

Thus happened, and thus terminated the affair of " the Dog," wherein
have fallen three distinguished warriors ; and wherein might have fallen one
"great medicine-man \" and all in consequence of the operations of my
brush. Tiie portraits of the three first named will long hang in my Gallery
for the world to gaze upon ; and the head of the latter (whose hair yet re-
mains on it), may probably be seen (for a time yet) occasionally stalking
about in the midst of this Collection of Nature's dignitaries.

The circumstances above detailed, are as correctly given as I could fur-
nish them ! and they have doubtless given birth to one of the most wonder-
ful traditions, which will be told and sung amongst the Sioux Indians from
age to age ; furnishing one of the rarest instances, perhaps, on record, of the
extent to which these people may be carried by the force of their superstitions.

After I had related this curious and unfortunate affair, I was called upon
to proceed at once with the

STORY OF WI-JUN-JON (the pigeon's egg head) ;

and I recited it as I first told it to poor Ba'tiste, on a former occasion,
which was as follows : —

" Well, Ba'tiste, I promised last night, as you were going to sleep, that
I would tell you a story this morning — did I not ?

" 'Oui, Monsieur, oui — de ' Pigeon's Head.'

195

*' No, Ba'tiste, the < Pigeon's Egg Head.'

" ' Well den, Monsieur Cataline, de ' Pigeon Egg's Head.*

*' No, Ba'tiste, you have it wrong yet. The Pigeon's Egg Head.

" ' Sacre — well, * Pee — -jonse — ec — head.''

" Right, Ba'tiste. Now you shall hear the ' Story of the Pigeon's Egg Head.'

" The Indian name of this man (being its literal translation into the As-
sinneboin language) was Wi-jun-jon.

" ' Wat ! comment ! by Gar (pardon) ; not Wi-jun-jon, le frere de ma
douce Wee-ne-on-ka, fils du chef Assinneboin ? But excusez ; go on s'il
vous plait.'

" Wi-jun-jon (the Pigeon's Egg Head) was a brave and a warrior of the
Assinneboins — young — proud — handsome — valiant, and graceful. He had
fought many a battle, and won many a laurel. The numerous scalps from
his enemies' heads adorned his dress, and his claims were fair and just for
the highest honours that his country could bestow upon him ; for his father
was chief of the nation.

" Le meme ! de same — ^mon frere — men ami ! Bien, I am compose ; go
on, Monsieur.'

" Well, this young Assinneboin, the * Pigeon's Egg Head,' was selected
by Major Sanford, the Indian Agent, to represent his tribe in a delegation
which visited Washington city under his charge in the winter of 1832,
With this gentleman, the Assinneboin, together with representatives from
several others of those North Western tribes, descended the Missouri river
several thousand miles, on their way to Washington.

" While descending the river in a Mackinaw boat, from the mouth ol
Yellow Stone, Wi-jun-jon and another of his tribe who was with him, at the
first approach to the civilized settlements, commenced a register of the white
men's houses (or cabins), by cutting a notch for each on the side of a pipe-
stem, in order to be able to shew when they got home, how many white
men's houses they saw on their journey. At first the cabins were scarce ;
but continually as they advanced down the river, more and more rapidly in-
creased in numbers ; and they soon found their pipe-stem filled with marks,
and they determined to put the rest of them on the handle of a war-club,
which they soon got marked all over likewise ; and at length, while the boat
was moored at the shore for the purpose of cooking the dinner of the party,
Wi-jun-jon and his companion stepped into the bushes, and cut a long stick,
from which they peeled the bark ; and when the boat was again underweigh,
they sat down, and with much labour, copied the notches on to it from the
pipe-stem and club ; and also kept adding a notch for every house they
passed. This stick was soon filled ; and in a day or two several others ;
when, at last, they seemed much at a loss to know what to do with theii
troublesome records, until they came in sight of St. Louis, which is a town
of 15,000 inhabitants; upon which, after consulting a little, they pitched
their sticks overboard into the river !

VJ6

" I was in St. Louis at the time of their arrival, and painted their portraits
while they rested in that place. Wi-jun-jon was tlie first, who reluctantly
yielded to the solicitations of the Indian agent and myself, and appeared as
sullen as death in my painting-room — with eyes fixed like those of a statue,
upon me, though his pride had plumed and tinted him in all the freshness
and brilliancy of an Indian's toilet. In his nature's uncowering pride he
stood a perfect model ; but superstition had hung a lingering curve upon
his lip, and pride had stiffened it into contempt. He had been urged into
a measure, against which his fears had pleaded ; yet he stood unmoved and
unflinching amid the struggles of mysteries that were hovering about him,
foreboding ills of every kind, and misfortunes that were to happen to him
in consequence of this operation.

"He was dressed in his native costume, which was classic and exceed-
ingly beautiful (plate 271) ; his leggings and shirt were of the mountain-
goat skin, richly garnished with quills of the porcupine, and fringed with
locks of scalps, taken from his enemies' heads. Over these floated his long
hair in plaits, that fell nearly to the ground ; his head was decked with the
war-eagle's plumes — his robe was of the skin of the young buffalo bull,
richly garnished and emblazoned with the battles of his life ; his quiver and
bow were slung, and his shield, of the skin of the bull's neck.

" I painted him in this beautiful dress, and so also the others who were
with him ; and after I had done. Major Sanford went on to Washington
with them, where they spent the winter.

** Wi-jiin-jon was the foremost on all occasions — the first to enter the
levee — the first to shake the President's hand, and make his speech to him —
the last to extend the hand to them, but the first to catch the smiles and
admiration of the gentler sex. He travelled the giddy maze, and beheld
amid the buzzing din of civil life, their tricks of art, their handiworks, and
their finery ; he visited their principal cities— he saw their forts, their ships,
their great guns, steamboats, balloons, &c. &c. ; and in the spring returned
to St. Louis, where I joined him and his companions on their way back to
their own country.

"Through the politeness of Mr. Chouteau, of the American Fur Company,
I was admitted (the only passenger except Major Sanford and his Indians)
to a passage in their steamboat, on her first trip to the Yellow Stone; and
when I had embarked, and the boat was about to depart, Wi-jun-jon made
his appearance on deck, in a full suit of regimentals ! He had in Washing-
ton exchanged his beautifully garnished and classic costume, for a full dress
'en militaire' (see plate 272). It was, perhaps, presented to him by the
President. It was broadcloth, of the finest blue, trimmed with lace of gold;
on his shoulders were mounted two immense epaulettes; his neck was stran-
gled with a shining black stock, and his feet were pinioned in a pair of water
proof boots, with high heels, which made him * step like a yoked hog.'

^4

153

271

272

Q. Ccbbli'ii.

^ 197

" * Ha-ha-hagh (pardon, Monsieur Cal aline, for I am almost laugh) — ^well,
he was a fine genteman, ha V

" On his head was a high-crowned beaver hat, with a broad silver lace
band, surmounted by a huge red feather, some two feet high ; his coat
collar stiff with lace, came higher up than his ears, and over it flowed, down
towards his haunches — his long Indian locks, stuck up in rolls and plaits,
with red paint.

" ' Ha-ha-hagh-agh-ah.'

" Hold your tongue, Ba'tiste.

" ' Well, go on — go on.'

'"A large silver medal was suspended from his neck by a blue ribbon —
and across his right shoulder passed a wide belt, supporting by his side a
broad sword.

" ' Diable !'

" On his hands he had drawn a pair of white kid gloves, and in them held,
a blue umbrella in one, and a large fan in the other. In this fashion was
poor Wi-jun-jon metamorphosed, on his return from Washington ; and, in
this plight was he strutting and whistling Yankee Doodle, about the deck of
the steamer that was wending its way up the mighty Missouri, and taking
him to his native land again ; where he was soon to light his pipe, and
cheer the wigwam fire-side, with tales of novelty and wonder.

" Well, Ba'tiste, I travelled with this new-fangled gentleman until he
reached his home, two thousand miles above St. Louis, and I could never
look upon him for a moment without excessive laughter, at the ridiculous
figure he cut — the strides, the angles, the stiffness of this travelling beau !
Oh Ba'tiste, if you could have seen him, you would have split your sides
with laughter ; he was — ' puss in boots,' precisely !

" * By gar, he is good compare ! Ha-ha, Monsieur : (pardon) I am laugh :
I am see him wen he is arrive in Yellow Stone ; you know I was dere. I
am laugh much wen he is got off de boat, and all de Assinncboins was
dere to look. Oh diable ! I am laugh almost to die, I am split ! — suppose
he was pretty stiff, ha ? — * cob on spindle,' ha ? Oh, by gar, he is coot pour
laugh — pour rire V

" After Wi-jun-jon had got home, and passed the usual salutations among
Ills friends, he commenced the simple narration of scenes he had passed
through, and of things he had beheld among the whites ; which appeared to
them so much like fiction, that it was impossible to believe them, and they
set bim down as an impostor. ' He has been, (they said,) among the whites,
who are great liars, and all he has learned is to come home and tell lies.'
He sank rapidly into disgrace in his tribe ; his high claims to political emi-
nence all vanished ; he was reputed worthless — the greatest liar of his nation ;
the chiefs shunned him and passed him by as one of the tribe who was lost ;
yet the ears of the gossipping portion of the tribe were open, and the camp-

198

fire circle and the wigwam fireside, gave silent audience to the whispered
narratives of the ' travelled Indian.' *****

" The next day after he had arrived among his friends, the superfluous
part of his coat, (which was a laced frock), was converted into a pair of leg-
gings for his wife ; and his hat-band of silver lace furnished her a magnificent
pair of garters. The remainder of the coat, curtailed of its original length,
was seen buttoned upon the shoulders of his brother, over and above a pair
of leggings of buckskin ; and Wi-jun-jon was parading about among his
gaping friends, with a bow and quiver slung over his shoulders, which, sans
coat, exhibited a fine linen shirt with studs and sleeve buttons. His broad-
sword kept its place, but about noon, his boots gave way to a pair of gar-
nished moccasins ; and in such plight he gossipped away the day among his
friends, while his heart spoke so freely and so effectually from the bung-hole
of a little keg of whiskey, which he had brought the whole way, (as one of
the choicest presents made him at Washington), that his tongue became
silent.

'* One of his little fair enamoratas, or ' catch crumbs,' such as live in the
halo of all great men, fixed her eyes and her affections upon his beautiful
silk braces, and the next day, while the keg was yet dealing out its
kindnesses, he was seen paying visits to the lodges of his old acquain-
tance, swaggering about, with his keg under his arm, whistling Yankee
Doodle, and Washington's Grand March ; his white shirt, or that part of it
that had been gapping in the wind, had been shockingly tithed — his panta-
loons of blue, laced with gold, were razed into a pair of comfortable leggings
— his bow and quiver were slung, and his broad-sword which trailed on the
ground, had sought the centre of gravity, and taken a position between his
and dragging behind him*, served as a rudder to steer him over the
* earth's troubled surface.'

" > Ha-hah-hagh ah o oo k, eh bien.'

" Two days' revel of this kind, had drawn from his keg all its charms ; and
in the mellowness of his heart, all his finery had vanished, and all of its appen-
dao-es, except his umbrella, to which his heart's strongest affections still clung,
and with it, and under it, in rude dress of buckskin, he was afterwards to be
seen, in all sorts of weather, acting the fop and the beau as well as he could,
with his limited means. In this plight, and in this dress, with his umbrella
always in his hand, (as the only remaining evidence of his quondam great-
ness,) he began in his sober moments, to entertain and instruct his people,
by honest and simple narratives of things and scenes he had beheld during
his tour to the East ; but which (unfortunately for him), were to them too
marvellous and improbable to be believed. He told the gaping multitude,
that were constantly gathering about him, of the distance he had travelled —
of the astonishing number of houses he had seen — of the towns and cities,
with all their wealth and splendour — of travelling on steamboats, in stages,
and on railroads. He described our forts, and seventy-four gun ships, which

199

he had visited — their big guns — our great bridges — our great council-house
at Washington, and its doings — the curious and wonderful machines in the
patent office, (which he pronounced the greatest medicine place he had seen) ;
he described the great war parade, which he saw in the city of New York — the
ascent of the balloon from Castle Garden — the numbers of the white people,
the beauty of the white squaws ; their red cheeks, and many thousands of
other things, all of which were so much beyond their comprehension, that
they ' could not be true,' and ' he must be the very greatest liar in the whole
world.'*

" But he was beginning to acquire a reputation of a different kind. He
was denominated a medicine-man, and one too of the most extraordinary
character ; for they deemed him far above the ordinary sort of human beings,
whose mind could invent and conjure up for their amusement, such an h\ge-
n'lous fabrication of novelty and wonder. He steadily and unostentatiously
persisted, however, in this way of entertaining his friends and his people,
though he knew his standing was affected by it. He had an exhaustless
theme to descant upon through the remainder of his life ; and he seemed
satisfied to lecture all his hfe, for the pleasure which it gave him.

" So great was his medicine, however, that they began, chiefs and all, to
look upon him as a most extraordinary being, and the customary honours and
forms began to be applied to him, and the respect shewn him, that belongs
to all men in the Indian country, who are distinguished for their medicine
or mysteries. In short, when all became familiar with the astonishing repre-
sentations that he made, and with the wonderful alacrity with which * he
created them,' he was denominated the very greatest of medicine ; and not
only that, but the ' lying medicine.' That he should be the greatest of me-
dicine, and that for lying, merely, rendered him a prodigy in mysteries that
commanded not only respect, but at length, (when he was more maturely
heard and listened to) admiration, awe, and at last dread and terror; which
altogether must needs conspire to rid the world of a monster, whose more
than human talents must be cut down, to less than human measurement.

" * Wat ! Monsieur Cataline, dey av not try to kill him V

" Yes, Ba'tiste, in this way the poor fellow had lived, and been for three
years past continually relating the scenes he had beheld, in his tour to the
' Far East ;' until his medicine became so alarmingly great, that they were
unwilling he should live ; they were disposed to kill him for a wizard. One
of the young men of the tribe took the duty upon himself, and after much
perplexity, hit upon the following plan, to-wit : — he had fully resolved, in
conjunction with others who were in the conspiracy, that the medicine of
Wi-jun-jon was too great for the ordinary mode, and that he was so great a
liar that a rifle bullet would not kill him ; while the young man was in this

* Most unfortunately for this poor fellow, the other .one of his trihe, who travelled witu
lim, and ccnld have borne testimony to the truth of his statements, died of the quinsey on
Lis way home.

200

distressing dilemma, which lasted for some weeks, he had a dream one night,
which solved all difficulties ; and in consequence of which, he loitered about
the store in the Fort, at the mouth of the Yellow Stone, until he could pro-
care, by stealth, (according to the injunction of his dream,) the handle of an
iron pot, which he supposed to possess the requisite virtue, and taking it into
the woods, he there spent a whole day in straightening and filing it, to fit it
into the barrel of his gun ; after which, he made his appearance again in the
Fort, with his gun under his robe, charged with the pot handle, and getting
behind poor Wi-jun-jon, whilst he was talking with the Trader, placed the
muzzle behind his head and blew out his brains !

" * Sacrfe vengeance ! oh, mon Dieu ! let me cry — I shall cry always, for
evare — Oh he is not true, 1 hope ? no, Monsieur, no !'

" Yes, Ba'tiste, it is a fact : thus ended the days and the greatness, and
all the pride and hopes of Wi-jun-jon, the ' Pigeoris Egg Head,' — a war-
rior and a brave of the valiant Assinneboins, who travelled eight thousand
miles to see the President, and all the great cities of the civihzed world ; and
who, for telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, was, after he got home,
disgraced and killed for a wizard.

*♦ * Oh, Monsieur Cataline — I am distress — I am sick — I was hope he is
not true — oh I am mortify. Wi-jun-jon was coot Ingin — he was iny brud-
dare — eh bien — eh bien.'

" Now, my friend Ba'tiste, I see you are distressed, and I regret exceed-
ingly that it must be so ; he was your friend and relative, and I myself feel
sad at the poor fellow's unhappy and luckless fate ; for he was a handsome,
an honest, and a noble Indian."

" ' C'est vrais. Monsieur, c'est vrai.'

*' This man's death, Ba'tiste, has been a loss to himself, to his friends, and
to the world ; but you and I may profit by it, nevertheless, if we bear it in

mind

" ' Oui! yes, Monsr. mais, suppose, 'tis bad wind dat blows nary way, ha?*
" Yes, Ba'tiste, we may profit by his misfortune, if we choose. We may
call it a ' caution ;' for instance, when I come to write your book, as you
have proposed, the fate of this poor fellow, who was relating no more than
what he actually saw, will caution you against the imprudence of telling all
that you actually know, and narrating all that you have seen, iest like him
you sink into disgrace for telling the truth. You know, Ba'tiste, that there
are many things to be seen in the kind of life that you and I have been living
for some years past, which it would be more prudent for us to suppress than
to tell.

'* * Oui, Monsieur. Well, suppose, perhaps I am discourage about de
book. Mais, we shall see, ha V "

Thus ended the last night's gossip, and in the cool of this morning, we bid
adieu to the quiet and stillness of this wild place, of which I have resolved to
give a little further account before we take leave of it.

201

From the Fall of St. Anthony, my delightful companion (Mr. Wood, whom
I have before mentioned) and myself, with our Indian guide, whose name was
0-kup-pee, tracing the beautiful shores of the St. Peters river, about eighty
miles ; crossing it at a place called " Traverse des Sioux" and recrossing it
at another point about thirty miles above the mouth of " Terre Bleue,"
from whence we steered in a direction a little North of West for the " Coteau
des Prairies," leaving the St. Peters river, and crossing one of the most
beautiful prairie countries in the world, for the distance of one hundred
and twenty or thirty miles, which brought us to the base of the Coteau,
where we were joined by our kind and esteemed companion Monsieur
La Fromboise, as I have before related. This tract of country as well
as that along the St. Peters river, is mostly covered with the richest soil,
and furnishes an abundance of good water, which flows from a thou-
sand living springs. For many miles we had the Coteau in view in the
distance before us, which looked like a blue cloud settling down in the
horizon ; and we were scarcely sensible of the fact, when we had arrived
at its base, from the graceful and almost imperceptible swells with which it
commences its elevation above the country around it. Over these swells or
terraces, gently rising one above the other, we travelled for the distance of
forty or fifty miles, when we at length reached the summit ; and from the
base of this mound, to its top, a distance of forty or fifty miles, there
was not a tree or bush to be seen in any direction, and the ground every-
where was covered with a green turf of grass, about five or six inches high; and
we were assured by our Indian guide, that it descended to the West, towards
the Missouri, with a similar inclination, and for an equal distance, divested
of every thing save the grass that grows, and the animals that walk upon it.

On the very top of this mound or ridge, we found the far-famed quarry or
fountain of the Red Pipe, which is truly an anomaly in nature (plate 270).
The principal and most striking feature of this place, is a perpendicular wall
of close-grained, compact quartz, of twenty-five and thirty feet in elevation,
running nearly North and South with its face to the West, exhibiting a front
of nearly two miles in length, when it disappears at both ends by running
under the prairie, which becomes there a little more elevated, and probably
covers it for many miles, both to the North and the South. The depres-
sion of the brow of the ridge at this place has been caused by the wash
of a little stream, produced by several springs on the top, a little back
from the wall ; which has gradually carried away the super-incumbent earth,
and having bared the wall for the distance of two miles, is now left to glide
for some distance over a perfectly level surface of quartz rock ; and then to
leap from the top of the wall into a deep basin below, and from thence seek
its course to the Missouri, forming the extreme source of a noted and power-
ful tributary, called the " Big Sioux."

This beautiful wall is horizontal, and stratified in several distinct layers
of light grey, and rose or flesh-coloured quartz ; and for most of the

VOL. 11. O "

202

way, both on the front of the wall, and for acres of its horizontal surface,
highly polished or glazed, as if by ignition.

At the base of this wall there is a level prairie, of half a mile in width,
running parallel to it ; in any and all parts of which, the Indians pro.
cure the red stone for their pipes, by digging through the soil and several
slaty layers of the red stone, to the depth of four or five feet.* From the
very numerous marks of ancient and modern diggings or excavations, it
would appear that this place has been for many centuries resorted to for the
red stone ; and from the great number of graves and remains of ancient
fortifications in its vicinity, it would seem, as well as from their actual tradi-
tions, that the Indian tribes have long held this place in high superstitious
estimation ; and also that it has been the resort of different tribes, who have
made their regular pilgrimages here to renew their pipes.

The red pipe stone, I consider, will take its place amongst minerals, as
an interesting subject of itself; and the " Coteau des Prairies" will become
hereafter an important theme for geologists ; not only from the fact that
this is the only known locality of that mineral, but from other phenomena
relating to it. The single fact of such a table of quartz, in horizontal
strata, resting on this elevated plateau, is of itself (in my opinion) a very
interesting subject for investigation ; and one which calls upon the scien-
tific world for a correct theory with regard to the time when, and the
manner in which, this formation was produced. That it is of a secondary
character, and of a sedimentary deposit, seems evident ; and that it has
withstood the force of the diluvial current, while the great valley of the Mis-
souri, from this very wall of rocks to the Rocky Mountains, has been ex-
cavated, and its debris carried to the ocean, there is also not a shadow of
doubt ; which opinion I confidently advance on the authority of the following
remarkable facts :

At the base of the wall, and within a few rods of it, and on the very
ground where the Indians dig for the red stone, rests a group of five stupen-
dous boulders of gneiss, leaning against each other ; the smallest of which is
twelve or fifteen feet, and the largest twenty-five feet in diameter, altogether
weighing, unquestionably, several hundred tons. These blocks are com-
posed chiefly of felspar and mica, of an exceedingly coarse grain (the felspar
often occurring in crystals of an inch in diameter). The surface of these
boulders is in every part covered with a grey moss, which gives them an ex-
tremely ancient and venerable appearance, and their sides and angles are
rounded by attrition, to the shape and character of most other erratic stones,
which are found throughout the country. It is under these blocks that the
two holes, or ovens are seen, in which, according to the Indian superstition,

• From the very many excavations recently and anciently made, I could discover tbat
tliese layers varied very much, in their thickness in different parts ; and that in some places
they were overlaid with four or five feet of rock, similar to, and in fact a part of, the lower
stratum of the wall.

203

the two old women, itie guardian spirits of the place, reside ; of whom I
have before spoken.

That these five immense blocks, of precisely the same character, and differ-
ing materially from all other specimens of boulders which I have seen in the
great vallies of the Mississippi and Missouri, should have been hurled some
hundreds of miles from their native bed, and lodged in so singular a group on
this elevated ridge, is truly matter of surprise for the scientific world, as well
as for the poor Indian, whose superstitious veneration of them is such, that
not a spear of grass is broken or bent by his feet, within three or four rods of
them, where he stops, and in humble supplication, by throwing plugs of to-
bacco to them, solicits permission to dig and carry away the red stone for
his pipes. The surface of these boulders are in every part entire and
unscratched by anything ; wearing the moss everywhere unbroken, except
where I applied the hammer, to obtain some small specimens, which I shall
bring away with me.

The fact alone, that these blocks differ in character from all other speci-
mens which I have seen in my travels, amongst the thousands of boulders
which are strewed over the great valley of the Missouri and Mississippi, from
the Yellow Stone almost to the Gulf of Mexico, raises in my mind an un-
answerable question, as regards the location of their native bed, and the
means by which they have reached their isolated position ; like five brothers,
leaning against and supporting each other, without the existence of another
boulder within many miles of them. There are thousands and tens of
thousands of boulders scattered over the prairies, at the base of the Coteau,
on either side ; and so throughout the valley of the St. Peters and Missis-
sippi, which are also subjects of very great interest and importance to
science, inasmuch as they present to the world, a vast variety of characters;
and each one, though strayed away from its original position, bears in-
contestible proof of the character of its native bed. The tract of country
lying between the St. Peters river and the C6teau, over which we passed,
presents innumerable specimens of this kind ; and near the base of the
C&teau they are strewed over the prairie in countless numbers, presenting
almost an incredible variety of rich, and beautiful colours ; and undoubtedly
traceable, (if they can be traced), to separate and distinct beds.

Amongst these beautiful groups, it was sometimes a very easy matter to
sit on my horse and count within my sight, some twenty or thirty different
varieties, of quartz and granite, in rounded boulders, of every hue and colour,
from snow white to intense red, and yellow, and blue, and almost to a jet
black ; each one well characterized and evidently from a distinct quarry.
With the beautiful hues and almost endless characters of these blocks, I be-
came completely surprised and charmed ; and I resolved to procure speci-
mens of every variety, which I did with success, by dismounting from my
horse, and breaking small bits fiom them with my hammer ; until I had some-
thing like an hundred different varieties, containing all the tints and colours

204

of a painter's palette. These, I at length threw away, as I had on several
former occasions, other minerals and fossils, which I had collected and lugged
along from day to day, and sometimes from week to week.

Whether these varieties of quartz and granite can all be traced to their
native beds, or whether they all have origins at this time exposed above the
earth's surface, are equally matters of much doubt in my mind. I believe
that the geologist may take the different varieties, which he may gather at
Ijie base of the C6teau in one hour, and travel the Continent of North Ame-
rica all over without being enabled to put them all in place ; coming at last
to the unavoidable conclusion, that numerous chains or beds of primitive
rocks have reared their heads on this Continent, the summits of which have
been swept away by the force of diluvial currents, and their fragments
jostled together and strewed about, like foreigners in a strange land, over the
great vallies of the Mississippi and Missouri, where they will ever remain,
and be gazed upon by the traveller, as the only remaining evidence of their
native beds, which have again submerged or been covered with diluvial
deposits.

There seems not to be, either on the Coteau or in the great vallies on either
side, so far as I have travelled, any slaty or other formation exposed above
the surface on which grooves or scratches can be seen, to establish the direc-
tion of the diluvial currents in those regions ; yet I think the fact is pretty
clearly established by the general shapes of the vallies, and the courses of
the mountain ridges which wall them in on their sides.

The C6teau des Prairies is the dividing ridge between the St. Peters and
Missouri rivers ; its southern termination or slope is about in the latitude of
the Fall of St. Anthony, and it stands equi-distant between the two rivers ;
its general course bearing two or three degrees West of North for the distance
of tAvo or three hundred miles, when it gradually slopes again to the North,
throwing out from its base the head-waters and tributaries of the St. Peters,
on the East. The Red River, and other streams, which empty into Hudson's
Bay, on the North ; La Riviere Jaque and several other tributaries to the
Missouri, on the West ; and the Red Cedar, the loway and the Des Moines,
on tlie South.

This wonderful feature, which is several hundred miles in length, and
varying from fifty to a hundred in width, is, perhaps, the noblest mound of
its kind in the world ; it gradually and gracefully rises on each side, by
Bwell after swell, without tree, or bush or rock (save what are to be seen in the
vicinity of the Pipe Stone Quarry), and everywhere covered with green grass
affording the traveller, from its highest elevations, the most unbounded ant

sublime views of nothing at all save the blue and boundless ocean

of prairies that lie beneath and all around him, vanishing into azure in
the distance without a speck or spot to break their softness.

The direction of this ridge, I consider, pretty clearly establishes the course
of the diluvial current in this region, and the erratic stones which are dis-

205

tributed along its base, I attribute to an origin several hundred miles North
West from the Coteau. I have not myself traced the Coteau to its highest
points, nor to its Northern extremity ; but it has been a subject, on which
I have closely questioned a number of traders, who have traversed every
mile of it with their carts, and from thence to Lake Winnepeg on the North,
who uniformly tell me, that there is no range of primitive rocks to be crossed
in travelling the whole distance, which is one connected and continuous prairie.

The top and sides of the C6teau are everywhere strewed over the surface
with granitic sand and pebbles, which, together with the fact of the five
boulders resting at the Pipe Stone Quarry, shew clearly that every part of
the ridge has been subject to the action of these currents, which could not
have run counter to it, without having disfigured or deranged its beautiful
symmetry.

The glazed or polished surface of the quartz rocks at the Pipe Stone
Quarry, I consider a very interesting subject, and one which will excite here-
after a variety of theories, as to the manner in which it has been produced,
and the causes which have led to such singular results. The quartz is of a
close grain, and exceedingly hard, eliciting the most brilliant spark from
steel ; and in most places, where exposed to the sun and the air, has a
high polish on its surface, entirely beyond any results which could have been
produced by diluvial action, being perfectly glazed as if by ignition. I was
not sufficiently particular in my examinations to ascertain whether any parts
of the surface of these rocks under the ground, and not exposed to the action
of the air, were thus affected, which would afford an important argument in
forming a correct theory with regard to it ; and it may also be a fact of
similar importance, that this polish does not extend over the whole wall or
area ; but is distributed over it in parts and sections, often disappearing
suddenly, and reappearing again, even where the character and exposure of
the rock is the same and unbroken. In general, the parts and points most
projecting and exposed, bear the highest polish, which would naturally be
the case whether it was produced by ignition, or by the action of the air
and sun. It would seem almost an impossibility, that the air passing
these projections for a series of centuries, could have produced so high a
polish on so hard a substance ; and it seems equally unaccountable, that
this effect could have been produced in the other way, in the total absence
of all igneous matter.

I have broken off specimens and brought them home, which certainly bear
as high a polish and lustre on the surface, as a piece of melted glass ; and
then as these rocks have undoubtedly been formed where they now lie, it must
be admitted, that this strange effect on their surface has been produced either
by the action of the air and sun, or by igneous influence ; and if by the latter
course, there is no other conclusion we can come to, than that these results
are volcanic ; that this wall has once formed the side of a crater, and that
the Pipe Stone, laying in horizontal strata, is formed of the lava which has

206

issued from it. I am strongly inclined to believe, however, that the former
supposition is the correct one ; and that the Pipe Stone, which differs from
all known specimens of lava, is a new variety of steatite, and will be found
to be a subject of great interest and one worthy of a careful analysis.*

With such notes and such memorandums on this shorn land, whose quiet
and silence are only broken by the winds and the thunders of Heaven, I
close my note-book, and we this morning saddle our horses ; and after
wending our way to the " Thunders' Nest" and the " Stone-man Medicine,"
we shall descend into the valley of the St. Peters, and from that to the re-
gions of civilization ; from whence, if I can get there, you will hear of me
again. Adieu.

• In Silliman's American Journal of Science, Vol. xxxvii., p. 394, will be seen the fol-
lowing analysis of this mineral, made by Dr. Jackson of Boston, one of our best minera-
~, legists and chemists ; to whom I sent some specimens for the purpose, and who pronounced
^t, "a new mineral compound, not steatite, is harder than gypsum, and softer than carbonate
of lime."

Chemical Analysis of the Red Pipe Stone, brought by George Catlin, from the Cdteau des
Prair\es, '.a 1836 :

Water 8.4

Silica . . . ,
Alumina . . .
Magnesia . , .
Carbonate of lime
Peroxide of iron .

48.2

28.2

6.0

2.6.

5.0

Oxide of manganese . 0.6

99.0

Loss (probably magnesia) 1.0

100.0

I^orn. — All the varieties of this beautiful mineral, may at all times be seen in the
Indian Museum ; and by the curious, specimens may be obtained for any i'liiiLet
experiments.

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LETTER-No. 56.

ROCK ISLAND, UPPER MISSISSIPPI.

It will be seen by this, that I am again wending my way towards home.
Our neat little " dug out," by the aid of our paddles, has at length brought
my travelling companion and myself in safety to this place, where we found
the river, the shores, and the plains contiguous, alive and vivid with plumes,
with spears, and war-clubs of the yelling red men.

We had heard that the whole nation of Sacs and Foxes were to meet
Governor Dodge here in treaty at this time, aud nerve was given liberally
to our paddles, which had brought us from Traverse de Sioux, on the St.
Peters river ; and we reached here luckily in time to see the parades and
forms of a savage community, transferring the rights and immunities of their
natural soil, to the insatiable grasp of pale faced voracity.

After having glutted our curiosity at the fountain of the Red Pipe, our
horses brought us to the base of the Coteau, and then over the extended
plain that lies between that and the Traverse de Sioux, on the St. Peters
with about five days' travel.

In this distance we passed some of the loveliest prairie country in the
world, and I made a number of sketches — " Laque du Cygne, Swan Lake,"
(plate 276), was a peculiar and lovely scene, extending for many miles,
and filled with innumerable small islands covered with a profusion of rich
forest trees. Plate 277, exhibits the Indian mode of taking muskrats,
which dwell in immense numbers in these northern prairies, and build their
burrows in shoal water, of the stalks of the wild rice. They are built up
something of the size and form of haycocks, having a dry chamber in the
top, where the animal sleeps above water, passing in and out through a
hole beneath the water's surface. The skins of these animals are sought
by the Traders, for their fur, and they constitute the staple of all these
regions, being caught in immense numbers by the Indians, and vended to
the Fur Traders. The mode of taking them is seen in the drawing ; the women,
children and dogs attend to the little encampments, while the men wade
to their houses or burrows, and one strikes on the backs of them, as
the other takes the inhabitants in a rapid manner with a spear, while they
aie escaping from them.

208

Plate 278, is a party of Sioux, in bark canoes (purchased of the Chip-
peways), gathering the wild rice, which grows in immense fields around the
shores of the rivers and lakes of these northern regions, and used by the
Indians as an useful article of food. The mode of gathering it is curious,
and as seen in the drawing — one woman paddles the canoe, whilst another,
with a stick in each hand, bends the rice over the canoe with one, and strikes
it with the other, which shells it into the canoe, which is constantly moving
along until it is filled.

Plate 279, is a representation of one of the many lovely prairie scenes we
passed on the banks of the St. Peters river, near the Traverse de Sioux.

Whilst traversing this beautiful region of country, we passed the bands of
Sioux, who had made us so much trouble on our way to the Red Pipe, but
met with no further molestation.

At the Traverse de Sioux, our horses were left, and we committed our
bodies and little travelling conveniences to the narrow compass of a modest
canoe, that must most evidently have been dug out from the wrong side
of the log — that required us and everything in it, to be exactly in the bot-
tom— and then, to look straight forward, and speak from the middle of our
mouths, or it was " t'other side up' in an instant. In this way embarked,
with our paddles used as balance poles and propellers (after drilling awhile
in shoal water till we could "get the hang of it"), we started off, upon
the bosom of the St. Peters, for the Fall of St. Anthony. * *

* * * * Sans accident we arrived, at ten o'clock

at night of the second day — and sans steamer (which we were in hopes
to meet), we were obliged to trust to our little tremulous craft to carry
us through the windings of the mighty Mississippi and Lake Pepin, to
Prairie du Chien, a distance of 400 miles, which I had travelled last
summer in the same manner.

" Oh the drudgery and toil of paddling our little canoe from this to Prairie
cu Chien, we never can do it, Catlin."

" Ah well, never mind, my dear fellow — we must ' go it' — there is no other
way. But think of the pleasure of such a trip, ha ? Our guns and our fish-
ing-tackle will we have in good order, and be masters of our own boat — we
can shove it into every nook and crevice ; explore the caves in the rocks ;
ascend ' Mount Strombolo,' and linger along the pebbly shores of Lake Pe-
pin, to our hearts' content." " Well, I am perfectly agreed ; that's fine, by
Jupiter, that's what I shall relish exactly ; we will have our own fun, and a
truce to the labour and time ; let's haste and be off." So we catered for our
voyage, shook hands with our friends, and were again balancing our skittish
bark upon the green waters of the Mississippi. We encamped (as I had
done the summer before), along its lonely banks, whose only music is the
echoing war-song that rises from the glimmaiing camp-fire of the retiring
savage, or the cries of the famishing wolf that sits and bitterly weeps out iu
tremulous tones, his impatience for the crumb3 that are to fall to his lot.

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Oh ! but we enjoyed those moments, (did we not, Wood ? I would ask
you, in any part of the world, where circumstances shall throw this in your
way) those nights of our voyage, which ended days of peril and fatigue ;
when our larder was full, when our coffee was good, our mats spread, and our
musquito bars over us, which admitted the cool and heshness of night, but
screened the dew, and bade defiance to the buzzing thousands of sharp-billed,
winged torturers that were kicking and thumping for admission, I speak
now oi fair weather, not of the nights of lighming and of rain ! We'll pass
them over. We had all kinds though, and as we loitered ten days on our
way, we examined and experimented on many things for the benefit of man-
kind. We drew into our larder (in addition to bass and wild fowls), clams,
snails, frogs, and rattlesnakes ; the latter of which, when properly dressed
and broiled, we found to be the most delicious food of the land.

We were stranded upon the Eastern shore of Lake Pepin, where head-
winds held us three days ; and, like solitary Malays or Zealand penguins,
we stalked along and about its pebbly shores till we were tired, before we
could, with security, lay our little trough upon its troubled surface. When
liberated from its wind-bound shores, we busily plied our paddles, and nim-
bly sped our way, until we were landed at the fort of " Mount Strombolo,"
(as the soldiers call it), but properly denominated, in French, La Montaigne
que tromps a I'eau. We ascended it without much trouble ; and enjoyed
from its top, one of the most magnificent panoramic views that the Western
world can furnish ; and I would recommend to the tourist who has time to stop
for an hour or two. to go to its summit, and enjoy with rapture, the splendour
of the scene that lies near and in distance about him. This mountain, or
rather pyramid, is an anomaly in the country, rising as it does, about seven
hundred feet from the water, and washed at its base, all around, by the
river ; which divides and runs on each side of it. It is composed chiefly of
rock, and all its strata correspond exactly with those of the projecting pro-
montories on either side of the river. We at length arrived safe at Prairie
du Chien ; which was also sans steamer. We were moored again, thirty
miles below, at the beautiful banks and bluffs of Cassville ; which, too, was
sans steamer — we dipped our paddles again and

We are now six hundred miles below the Fall of St. Anthony, where
steamers daily pass ; and we feel, of course, at home. I spoke of the Treaty.
We were just in time, and beheld its conclusion. It was signed yesterday ; and
this day, of course, is one of revel and amusements — shows of war-parades
and dances. The whole of the Sacs and Foxes are gathered here, and their ap-
pearance is very thrilling, and at the same time pleasing. These people have
sold so much of their land lately, that they have the luxuries of life to a con-
siderable degree, and may be considered rich ; consequently they look elated
and happy, carrying themselves much above the humbled manner of most of
the semi-civilized tribes, whose heads are hanging and drooping in poverti^
and despair.

VOL. II. ^ "

210

In a former epistle, I mentioned the interview which I had witli Kee-o-kuk,
and the leading men and women of his tribe, when I painted a number of
their portraits and amusements as follow :

Kee-o-kuk (the running fox, plate 280), is the present chief of the tribe,
a dignified and proud man, with a good share of talent, and vanity enough
to force into action all the wit and judgment he possesses, in order to com-
mand the attention and respect of the world. At the close of the " Black
Mawk War " in 1833, which had been waged with disastrous effects along

* /rentier, by a Sac chief of that name ; Kee-o-kuk was acknowledged chief
Bt the Sacs and Foxes by General Scott, who held a Treaty with them at
Rock Island. His appointment as chief, was in consequence of the friendly
position he had taken during the war, holding two-thirds of the warriors
neutral, which was no doubt the cause of the sudden and successful termi-
nation of the war, and the means of saving much bloodshed. Black Hawk
and his two sons, as well as his principal advisers and warriors, were brought
into St. Louis in chains, and Kee-o-kuk appointed chief with the assent of
the tribe. In his portrait I have represented him in the costume, precisely,
in which he was dressed when he stood for it, with his shield on his arm, and
his staff (insignia of office) in his left hand. There is no Indian chief on
the frontier better known at this time, or more highly appreciated for his
eloquence, as a public speaker, than Kee-o-kuk ; as he has repeatedly visited
Washington and others of our Atlantic towns, and made his speeches before
thousands, when he has been contending for his people's rights, in their
stipulations with the United States Government, for the sale of their lands.

As so much is known of this man, amongst the citizens of the United
States, there is scarcely need of my saying much more of him to them ; but
for those who know less of him, I shall say more anon. Plate 281, is a por-
trait of the wife of Kee-o-kuk , and plate 282, of his favourite son, whom he
intends to be his successor. These portraits are both painted, also, in the cos-
tumes precisely in which they were dressed. This woman was the favourite
one, (I think) of seven, whom he had living, {apparently quite comfortably
and peaceably,) in his wigwam, where General Street and I visited him in
his village on the Des Moines river. And, although she was the oldest of
the " lot," she seemed to be the favourite one on this occasion — the only one
that could be painted ; on account, I believe, of her being the mother of his
favourite son. Her dress, which was of civilized stuffs, was fashioned and
ornamented by herself, and was truly a most splendid affair ; the upper part
of it being almost literally covered with silver broaches.

The Sacs and Foxes, who were once two separate tribes, but with a
language very similar, have, at some period not very remote, united into one,
and are now an inseparable people, and go by the familiar appellation of the
amalgam name of " Sacs and Foxes."

These people, as will be seen in their portraits, shave and ornament their
heads, like the Osages and Pawnees, of whom I have spoken heretofore ;

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and are amongst the number of trib s who have relinquished their immense
tracts of lands, and recently retired West of the Mississippi river. Their
numbers at present are not more than five or six thousand, yet they are a
warlike and powerful tribe.

Muk-a-tah-mish-o-kah-kaik (the black hawk, plate 283) is the man to
whom I have above alluded, as the leader of the " Black Hawk war," who
was defeated by General Atkinson, and held a prisoner of war, and sen.
tlirongh Washington and other Eastern cities, with a number of others, tc
be gazed at.

This man, whose name has carried a sort of terror through the country
where it has been sounded, has been distinguished as a speaker or councelloi
rather than as a warrior ; and I believe it has been pretty generally admitted
that " Nah-pope" and the " Prophet" were, in fact, the instigators of the
war ; and either of them with much higher claims for the name of warrioi
than Black Hawk ever had.

When I painted this chief, he was dressed in a plain suit of buckskin,
with strings of wampum in his ears and on his neck, and held in his hand,
his medicine-bag, which was tlie skin of a black hawk, from which he had
taken his name, and the tail of which made him a fan, which he was almost
constantly using.

Plate 284, is the eldest son of Black Hawk, Nah-se-us-kuk (the whirl-
ing thunder), a very handsome young warrior, and one of the finest-looking
Indians I ever saw. There is a strong party in the tribe that is anxious to
put this young man up ; and I think it more than likely, that Kee-o-kuk
as chief may fall ere long by his hand, or by some of the tribe, who are
anxious to reinstate the family of Black Hawk.

Plate 285, Wah-pe-kee-suck (the white cloud), called " the Prophet,"
is a very distinguished man, and one of the principal and leading men of
the Black Hawk party, and studying favour with the whites, as will be seen
by the manner in which he was allowing his hair to grow out.

Plate 286, Wee-sheet (the sturgeon's head), this man held a spear in
his hand when he was being painted, with which he assured me he killed
four white men during the war; though I have some doubts of the fact.

Ah-mou-a (the whale, plate 287, and his wife, plate 288), are also fair
specimens of this tribe. Her name is Wa-quo-the-qua (the buck's wife, or
female deer), and she was wrapped in a mackinaw blanket, whilst he was
curiously dressed, and held his war-club in his hand.

Pash-ee-pa-ho (the little stabbing chief, plate 289), a very old man,
holding his shield, staff and pipe in his hands ; has long been the head civil
chief of this tribe; but, as is generally the case in very old age, he hj.s resigned
the office to those who are younger and better qualified to do aie duties
of it.

Besides the above-mentioned personages, I painted also ti ^.•JT^g
portraits, which are now in my Collection.

212

I-o-way (the loway), one of Black Hawk's principal warriors ; his body
curiously ornamented with his " war-paint ;" Pam-a-ho (the swimmer), one
of Black Hawk's warriors ; No-kuk-qua (the bear's fat) ; Pash-ee-pa-ho
(the little stabbing chief, the younger), one of Black Hawk's braves; Wah-
pa-ko-las-kuk (the bear's track) ; Wa-saw-me-saw (the roaring thunder),
youngest son of Black Hawk ; painted while prisoner of war.

Plate 290, Kee-o-kuk, on horseback. After I had painted the portrait
of this vain man at full length, and which I have already introduced, he had
the vanity to say to me, that he made a fine appearance on horseback, and
that he wished me to paint him thus. So I prepared my canvass in the
door of the hospital which I occupied, in the dragoon cantonment ; and he
flourished about for a considerable part of the day in front of me, until the
picture was completed. The horse that he rode was the best animal on
the frontier ; a fine blooded horse, for which he gave the price of 300 dollars,
a thing that he was quite able to, who had the distribution of 50,000 dollars
annuities, annually, amongst his people. He made a great display on this
day, and hundreds of the dragoons and officers were about him, and looking
on during the operation. His horse was beautifully caparisoned, and his
scalps were carried attached to the bridle-bits.*

" About two years after the above wa.« written, and the portrait painted, and whilst r
was giving Lectures on the Customs of the Indians, in the Stuyvesant Institute in New York,
Kee-o-kuk and his wife and son, with twenty more of the chiefs and warriors of his tribe,
visited the City of New York on their way to Washington City, and were present one
evening at my Lecture, amjdst an audience of 1500 persons. During the Lecture, I
placed a succession of portraits on my easel before the audience, and they were succes-
sively recognized by the Indians as they were shewn ; and at last I placed this portrait
of Kee-o-kuk before them, when they all sprung up and hailed" it with a piercing yelL
After the noise had subsided, Kee-o-kuk arose, and addressed the audience in these
words : — " My friends, I hope you will pardon my men for making so much noise, as they
were very much excited by seeing me on my favourite war-horse, which they all recog-
nized in a moment."

I had the satisfaction then of saying to the audience, that this was very gratifying to
me, inasmuch as many persons had questioned the correctness of the picture of the horse ;
and some had said in my Exhibition Room, " that it was an imposition — that no Indian on
the frontier rode so good a horse." This was explained to Kee-o-kuk by the interpreter,
when he arose again quite indignant at the thought that any one should doubt its correct-
ness, and assured the audience, " that his men, a number of whom never had heard tliat
the picture was painted, knew the horse the moment it was presented ; and further, lie
wished to know why Kee-o-kuk could not ride as good a horse as any white man]" He
Jifire received a round of applause, and the interpreter, Mr. Le Clair, rose and stated to
the audience, that he recognized the horse the moment it was shewn, and that it was a
faithful portrait of the horse that he sold to Kee-o-kuk for 300 dollars, and that it was
the finest horse on the frontier, belonging either to red or white man.

In a few minutes afterwards I was exhibiting several of my paintings of buffalo-hunts,
and describing the modes of slaying them with bows and arrows, when I made the asser-
tion which I had often been in the habit of making, that there were many instances where
;iie arrow was thrown entirely through the buffalo's body; and that I had several timej
Witnessed this astoi.isbing feat. I saw evidently by the motions of my audience, that

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The dances and other amusements amongst this tribe are exceedingly
spirited and pleasing ; and I have made sketches of a number of them, which
I briefly introduce here, and leave them for further comments at a future
time, provided I ever get leisure and space to enable me to do it.

The slave-dance (plate 291), is a picturesque scene, and the custom in
which it is founded a very curious one. This tribe has a society which they
call the " slaves" composed of a number of the young men of the best fami-
lies in the tribe, who volunteer to be slaves for the term of two years, and
subject to perform any menial service that the chief may order, no matter how
humiliating or how degrading it may be ; by which, after serving their two
years, they are exempt for the rest of their lives, on war-parties or other ex-
cursions, or wherever they may be — from all labour or degrading occupations,
such as cooking, making fires, &c. &c.

These young men elect one from their numbers to be their master, and all
agree to obey his command whatever it may be, and which is given to him
by one of the chiefs of the tribe. On a certain day or season of the year,
they have to themselves a great feast, and preparatory to it the above-men-
tioned dance.

Smoking horses (plate 292), is another of the pecdiar and very curious
customs of this tribe. When General Street and I, arnvcd at Kee-o-kuks
village, we were just in time to see this amusing scene, on the prairie a little
back of his village. Tiie Foxes, who were making up a war-party to go
against the Sioux, and had not suitable horses enough by twenty, had sent
word to the Sacs, the day before (according to an ancient custom), that they
were coming on that day, at a certain hour, to " smoke" that number of
horses, and they must not fail to have them ready. On that day, and at the
hour, the twenty young men who were beggars for horses, were on the spot,
and seated themselves on the ground in a circle, where they went to smok-
mg. The villagers flocked around them in a dense crowd, and soon after
appeared on the prairie, at half a mile distance, an equal number of young
men of the Sac tribe, who had agreed, each to give a horse, and who were
then galloping them about at full speed ; and, gradually, as they went around
in a circuit, coming in nearer to the centre, until they were at last close
around the ring of young fellows seated on the ground. Whilst dashing
about thus, each one, with a heavy whip in his hand, as he came within reach
of the group on the ground, selected the one to whom he decided to present
his horse, and as he passed him, gave him the most tremendous cut with his

many doubted the correctness of my assertion ; and I appealed to Kee-o-kuk, who rose up
when the thing was explained to him, and said, that it had repeatedly happened amoa<jst
his tribe ; and he believed that one of his young men by his side had done it. The young
man instantly stepped up on the bench, and took a bow from under his robe, with whicli
he told the audience he had driven his arrow quite througli a buflalo's body. And, there
Leino- forty of the Sioux from the Upper Missouri also present, the same question was
put to them, when the chief arose, and addressing himself to the audience, said that it
was a thiny very olteu done by the hunterd in his tribe.

214

lash, over his naked shoulders ; and as he darted around again he plied *.he
whip as betbr and again and again, with a violent " crack !" until the
blood could be seen trickling down over his naked shoulders, upon which he
instantly dismounted, and placed the bridle and whip in his hands, saying,
" here, you are a beggar — I present you a horse, but you will carry my mark
on your back." In this manner, they were all in a little time " whipped tip,"
and each had a good horse to ride home, and into battle. His necessity was
such, that he could afford to take the stripes and the scars as the price of
the horse, and the giver could afford to make the present for the satisfaction
of putting his mark upon the other, and of boasting of his liberality, which he
has always a right to do, when going into the dance, or on other important
occasions. ^

The Begging Dance (plate 293), is a frequent amusement, and one that
Las been practiced with some considerable success at this time, whilst there
have been so many distinguished and liberal visitors here. It is got up by a
number of desperate and long-winded fellows, who will dance and yell their
visitors into liberality ; or, if necessary, laugh them into it, by their strange
antics, singing a song of importunity, and extending their hands for presents,
which they allege are to gladden the hearts of the poor, and ensure a blessing
to the giver.

The Sacs and Foxes, like all other Indians, are fond of living along the
banks of rivers and streams ; and like all others, are expert swimmers and
skilful canoemen.

Their canoes, like those of the Sioux and many other tribes, are dug out
from a log, and generally made extremely light ; and they dart them through
the coves and along the shores of the rivers, with astonishing quickness. I
was often amused at their freaks in their canoes, whilst travelling ; and I
was induced to make a sketch of one which I frequently witnessed, that of
sailing with the aid of their blankets, which the men carry ; and when the
wind is fair, stand in the bow of the canoe and hold by two corners, with the
other two under the foot or tied to the leg (plate 294) ; while the women
sit in the other end of the canoe, and steer it with their paddles.

The Discovery Dance (plate 295), has been given here, amongst various
others, and pleased the bystanders very much ; it was exceedingly droll and
picturesque, and acted out with a great deal of pantomimic effect — without
music, or any other noise than the patting of their feet, whirfi all came
simultaneously on the ground, in perfect time, whilst they were dancing for-
ward two or four at a time, in a skulking posture, overlooking the country,
and professing to announce the approach of animals or enemies which they
have discovered, by giving the signals back to the leader of the dance.

Dance to the Berdashe (plate 296), is a very funny and amusing scene,
which happens once a year or oftener, as they choose, when a feast is given
to the " Berdashe," as he is called in French, (or I-coo-coo-a, in their own
language), who is a man dressed in woman's clothes, as he is known to

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to be all his life, and for extraordinary privileges which he is known to
possess, he is driven to the most servile and degrading duties, which he is
not allowed to escape ; and he being the only one of the tribe submitting to
this disgraceful degradation, is looked upon as medicine and sacred, and a
feast is given to him annually ; and initiatory to it, a dance by those few
young men of the tribe who can, as in the sketch, dance forward and pub-
licly make their boast (without the denial of the Berdashe), that Ahg-whi-ee-
choos-cum-me hi-anh-dwax-cumme-ke on-daig nun-ehow ixt. Che-ne a'hkt
ah-pex-ian I-coo-coo-a wi-an-gurotst whow-itcht-ne-axt-ar-rah, ne-axt-gun-
he h'dow-k's dow-on-daig-o-ewhicht nun-go-was-see.

Such, and such only, are allowed to enter the dance and partake of the
feast, and as there are but a precious few in the tribe who have legitimately
g-ained this singular privilege, or willing to make a public confession of it, it
will be seen that the society consists of quite a limited number of " odd
fellows."

This is one of the most unaccountable and disgusting customs, that I have
ever met in the Indian country, and so far as I have been able to learn, belongs
only to the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes — perhaps it is practiced by other
tribes, but I did not meet with it ; and for further account of it I am
constrained to refer the reader to the country where it is practiced, and where
I should wish thaf it might be extinguished before it be more fully recorded.

Dance to the Medicine of the Brave (plate 297.) This is a custom
well worth recording, for the beautiful moral which is contained in it. In
this plate is represented a party of Sac warriors who have returned victorious
from baf^le, with scalps they have taken from their enemies, but having-
lost onfc of their party, they appear and dance in front of his wigwam,
fifteen days in succession, about an hour on each day, when the widow
hangs his medicine-bag on a green bush which she erects before her door,
under which she sits and cries, whilst the warriors dance and brandish
the scalps they have taken, and at the same time recount the deeds of
bravery of their deceased comrade in arms, whilst they are throwing pre-
sents to the widow to heal her grief and afford her the means of a living.

The Sacs and Foxes are already drawing an annuity of 27,000 dollars, for
thirty years to come, in cash ; and by the present Treaty just concluded,
that amount will be enlarged to 37,000 dollars per annum. This Treaty with
the Sacs and Foxes, held at Rock Island, was for the purchase of a tract of
land of 256,000 acres, lying on the loway river. West of the Mississippi, a
reserve which was made in the tract of land conveyed to the Government by
Treaty after the Sac war, and known as the " Black Hawk purchase." The
Treaty has been completed by Governor Dodge, by stipulating on the part of
Government to pay them seventy-five cents per acre for the reserve, (amount-
ing to 192,000 dollars), in the manner and form following : —

Thirty thousand dollars to be paid in specie in June next, at the Treaty-
T^round ; and ten thousand dollars annually, for ten years to come^ at the

216

same place, and in the same manner ; and the remaining sixty-two thousand,
in ihe payment of their debts, and some little donations to widows and half-
breed children. The American Fur Company was their principal creditor,
whose account for goods advanced on credit, they admitted, to the amount
of nearly fifty thousand dollars. It was stipulated by an article in the Treaty
that one half of these demands should be paid m cash as soon as the Treaty
elcuid be ratified — and that five thousand dollars should be appropriated
annually, for their liquidation, until they were paid off.

It was proposed by Kee-o-kuk in his speech (and it is a fact worthy of being
known, for such has been the proposition in every Indian Treaty that I ever
attended), that the first preparatory stipulation on the part of Government,
should be to pay the requisite sum of money to satisfy all their creditors,
who were then present, and whose accounts were handed in, acknowledged
and admitted.

The price paid for this tract of land is a liberal one, comparatively speak-
ing, for the usual price heretofore paid for Indian lands, has been one and a
half or three quarter cents, (instead of seventy-five cents) per acre, for land
which Government has since sold out for ten shillings.

Even one dollar per acre would not have been too much to have paid for
ihis tract, for every acre of it can be sold in one year, for ten shillings per acre,
to actual settlers, so desirable and so fertile is the tract of country purchased.
'J hese very people sold to Government a great part of the rich states of Illi-
nois and Missouri, at the low rates above-mentioned ; and this small tract
being the last that they can ever part with, without throwing themselves back
upon their natural enemies, it was no more than right that Government
should deal with them, as they have done, liberally.

As an evidence of the immediate value of that tract of land to Govern-
ment, and, as a striking instance of the overwhelming torrent of emigration,
to the " Far West," 1 will relate the following occurrence which took place
at the close of the Treaty : — After the Treaty was signed and witnessed, Go-
vernor Dodge addressed a few very judicious and admonitory sentences to
the chiefs and braves, which he finished by requesting them to move their
families, and all their property from this tract, within one month, which time
le would allow them, to make room for the whites.

Considerable excitement was created among the chiefs and braves, by this
suggestion, and a hearty laugh ensued, the cause of which was soon after
explained by one of them in the following manner : —

" My father, we have to laugh — we require no time to move — we have all
left the lands already, and sold our wigwams to Chemokemons (white men) —
some for one hundred, and some for two hundred dollars, before we came to
this Treaty. There are already four hundred Chemokemons on the land, and
several hundred more on their way moving in ; and three days before we came
away, one Chemokemon sold his wigwam to another Chemokemon for two
thousand dollars, to build a great town."

217

In this wise is this fair land filling up, one hundred miles or more West
of the Mississippi — not with barbarians, but with people from the East, en-
lightened and intelligent — with industry and perseverance that will soon rear
from the soil all the luxuries, and add to the surface, aU the taste and
comforts of Eastern refinement.

The Treaty itself, in all its forms, was a scene of interest, and Kee-o-kuk
was the principal speaker on the occasion, being recognized as the head
chief of the tribe. He is a very subtle and dignified man, and well fit-
ted to wield the destinies of his nation. The poor dethroned monarch, old
Black Hawk, was present, and looked an object of pity. With an old
frock coat and brown hat on, and a cane in his hand, he stood the whole
time outside ot the group, and in dumb and dismal silence, with his
sons by the side of him, and also his quondam aide-de-camp, Nah-
pope, and the prophet. They were not allowed to speak, nor even to
sign the Treaty. Nah-pope rose, however, and commenced a very earnest
speech on the subject of temperance ! but Governor Dodge ordered him
to sit down, (as being out of order), which probably saved him from
a much more peremptory command from Kee-o-kuk, who was rising at that
moment, with looks on his face that the Devil himself might have shrunk
from. This Letter I must end here, observing, before I say adieu, that
I have been catering for the public during this summer at a difficult
(and almost cruel) rate ; and if, in my over-exertions to grasp at material for
their future entertainment, the cold hand of winter should be prematurely
laid upon me and my works in this Northern region, the world, I am sure,
will be disposed to pity, rather than censure me for my delay.

F »

218

LETTER— No. 57.

FORT MOULTRIE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

Since the date of my last Letter, I have been a wanderer as usual, and
am now at least 2000 miles from the place where it was dated. At this
place are held 250 of the Serainolees and Eucliees, prisoners of war, who
are to be kept here awhile longer, and transferred to the country assigned
them, 700 miles West of the Mississippi, and 1400 from this. The famous
Os-ce-o-la is amongst the prisoners ; and also Mick-e-no-pah, the head
chief of the tribe, and Cloud, King Phillip, and several others of the distin-
guished men of the nation, who have celebrated themselves in the war that
is now waging with the United States' Government.

There is scarcely any need of my undertaking in an epistle of this kind, to
give a full account of this tribe, of their early history — of their former or
present location — or of their present condition, and the disastrous war they
are now waging with the United States' Government, who have held an in-
vading army in their country for four or five years, endeavouring to dispossess
them and compel them to remove to the West, in compliance with Treaty
stipulations. These are subjects generally understood already (being mat-
ters of history), and I leave them to the hands of those who will do them
more complete justice than I could think of doing at this time, with the
little space that I could allow them ; in the confident hope that justice
may be meted out to them, at least by the historian, if it should not be by
their great Guardian, who takes it upon herself, as with all the tribes,,
affectionately to call them her " red children."

For those who know nothing of the Seminolees, it may be proper for me
here just to remark, that they are a tribe of three or four thousand ; occu-
pying the peninsula of Florida — and speaking the language of the Creeks,
of whom I have heretofore spoken, and who were once a part of the same
tribe.

The word Seminolee is a Creek word, signifying runaways ; a name which
was given to a part of the Creek nation, who emigrated in a body to a
country farther South, where they have lived to the present day ; and con-
tinually extended their dominions by overrunning the once numerous tribe
that occupied the Southern extremity of the Florida Cape, called the Eu-
chees; whom they have at last nearly annihilated, and taken the mere

.m

169

29 8

219

remnant of them in, as a part of their tribe. With this tribe the Govern-
ment have been engaged in deadly and disastrous warfare for four or five
years ; endeavouring to remove them from their lands, in compliance with
a Treaty stipulation, which the Government claims to have been justly made,
and which the Seminolees aver, was not. Many millions of money, and
some hundreds of lives of officers and men have already been expended in
the attempt to dislodge them ; and much more will doubtless be yet spent
before they can be removed from their almost impenetrable swamps and
hiding-places, to which they can, for years to come, retreat ; and from which
they will be enabled, and no doubt disposed, in their exasperated state, to
make continual sallies upon the unsuspecting and defenceless inhabitants of
the country ; carrying their relentless feelings to be reeked in cruel ven-
geance on the unoffending and innocent.*

The prisoners who are held here, to the number of 250, men, women and
children, have been captured during the recent part of this warfare, and amongst
them the distinguished personages whom I named a few moments since ; ot
these, the most conspicuous at this time is Os-ce-o-la (plate 298), com-
monly called Powell, as he is generally supposed to be a half-breed, the
son of a white man (by that name), and a Creek woman.

I have painted him precisely in the costume, in which he stood for his
picture, even to a string and a trinket. He wore three ostrich feathers in
his head, and a turban made of a vari-coloured cotton shawl — and his dress
was chiefly of calicos, with a handsome bead sash or belt around his waist,
and his rifle in his hand.

This young man is, no doubt, an extraordinary character, as he has been
for some years reputed, and doubtless looked upon by the Seminolees as
the master spirit and leader of the tribe, although he is not a chief. From
his boyhood, he had led an energetic and desperate sort of life, which had
secured for him a conspicuous position in society ; and when the desperate
circumstances of war were agitating his country, he at once took a conspi-
cuous and decided part ; and in some way whether he deserved it or not,
acquired an influence and a name that soon sounded to the remotest

• The above Letter was written in the winter of 1838, and by the Secretary at War's
Report, a year and a half ago, it is seen that 36,000,000 of dollars had been already ex-
pended in the Seminolee war, as well as the lives of 12 or 1400 officers and men, and
defenceless inhabitants, who have fallen victims to the violence of the enraged savages
and diseases of the climate. And at the present date, Augast, 1841, 1 see by the Ameri-
can papers, that the war is being prosecuted at this time with its wonted vigour ; and
that the best troops in our country, and the lives of our most valued officers are yet
jeopardised in the deadly swanips of Florida, with little more certainty of a speedy ter-
mination of the war, than there appeared five years ago.

The world will pardon me for saying no more of this inglorious war, for it will be seen
that I am too near the end of my book, to afford it the requisite space ; and as an Ameri-
can citizen, I would pray, amongst thousands of others, that all books yet to be made,
might have as good an excuse for leaving it out.

220

parts of the United States, and amongst the Indian tribes, to the Rocky
Mountains.

This gallant fellow, who was, undoubtedly, captured a few months since,
with several of his chiefs and warriors, was at first brought in, to Fort Mellon
in Florida, and afterwards sent to this place for safe-keeping, where he is
grieving with a broken spirit, and ready to die, cursing white man, no doubt,
to the end of his breath.

The surgeon of the post, Dr. Weedon, who has charge of him, and has
been with him ever since he was taken prisoner, has told me from day to
day, that he will not live many weeks ; and I have my doubts whether he
will, from the rapid decline I have observed iu his face and his flesh since
I arrived here.

During the time that I have been here, I have occupied a large room in
the officers' quarters, by the politeness of Captain Morrison, who has com-
mand of the post, and charge of the prisoners ; and on every evening, after
painting all day at their portraits, I have had Os-ce-o-la, Mick-e-no-pa,
Cloud, Co-a-had-jo, King Phillip, and others in my room, until a late hour
at niglit, where they have taken great pains to give me an account of the
war, and the mode in which they were captured, of which they complain
bitterly.

I am fully convinced from all that I have seen, and learned from the lips
of Osceola, and from the chiefs who are around him, that he is a most extra-
ordinary man, and one entitled to a better fate.

In stature he is about at mediocrity, wit): an elastic and graceful
movement ; in his face he is good looking, with rather an effeminate smile ;
but of so peculiar a character, that the world may be ransacked over without
finding another just like it. In his manners, and all his movements in com-
pany, he is polite and gentlemanly, though all his conversation is entirely in
his own tongue ; and his general appearance ai4 actions, those of a full-
blooded and wild Indian.

In PLATE 299, is a portrait of Ye-how-lo-ge^ (the cloud), generally
known by the familiar name of " Cloud." This is one of the chiefs, and
a very good-natured, jolly man, growing fat in hi? ■•vni^risonment, where he
get's enough to eat, and an occasional drink of vhlskty from the officers,
with whom he is a great favourite.

Ee-mat-la (" King Philip," plate 300) is also a very aged chief, who has
been a man of great notoriety and distinction in his tune, but has now got
too old for further warlike enterprize.*

Co-ee-ha-jo (plate 301), is another chief who has been a long time dis-
tinguislied in the tribe, having signalized himself very much by his feats in
the present war.

* Tins veteran old warrior died a few weeks after I painted bis portrait, whilst on Lis
witb tiie rest of the prisoners, to the Arkansas.

]70

]'db

300

GXoSin.

221

La-shee {ino. licker, plate 302), commonly called " Creek Billy/' is a dis-
tinguished brave of the tribe, and a very handsome fellow.

Plate 303, is the portrait of a Seminolee boy, about nine years of age ;♦
and PLATE 304, a Seminolee woman.

Mick-e-no-pah (plate 305), is the head chief of the tribe, and a very lusty
and dignified man. He took great pleasure in being present every day in
my room, whilst I was painting the others ; but positively refused to be
painted, until he found that a bottle of whiskey, and another of wine, which
I kept on my mantelpiece, by permission of my kind friend Captain Morri-
son, were only to deal out their occasional kindnesses to those who sat for
their portraits; when he at length agreed to be painted, "if I could make a
fair likeness of his legs," which he had very tastefully dressed in a handsome
pair of red leggings, and upon which I at once began, (as he sat cross-legged),
by painting them on the lower part of the canvass, leaving room for his body
and head above ; all of which, through the irresistible influence of a few kind-
nesses from my bottle of wine, I soon had fastened to the canvass, where
they will firmly stand I trust, for some hundreds of years.

Since I finished my portrait of Os-ce-o-la, and since writing the first part
of this Letter, he has been extremely sick, and lies so yet, with an alarming
attack of the quinsey or putrid sore throat, which will probably end his
career in a few days. Two or three times the surgeon has sent for the offi-
cers of the Garrison and myself, to come and see him " dying" — we were with
him the night before last till the middle of the night, every moment ex-
pecting his death ; but he Le.s improved during the last twenty-four hours,
and there is some slight prospect of his recovery.! The steamer starts

* This remarkably fine boy, by the name of Os-ce-o-la Nick-a-no-chee, has recently been
brought from America to London, by Dr. Welch, an Englishman, who has been for
several years residing in Florida. The boy it seems, was captured by the United States
troops, at the age of six years : hit how my friend the Doctor got possession of him, and
leave to bring him away I never have heard. He is acting a very praiseworthy part how-
ever, by the paternal fondiess be evinces for the child, and fairly proves, by the very great
pains he is taking with his education. The doctor has published recently, a very neat
volume, containing the boy's nistory ; and also a much fuller account of Os-ce-o-la, and
incidents of the Florida wa., .o wLich I would refer the reader.

t From accounts which >:' Fji-t Moultrie a few days after I returned home, it seems,
that this ill-fated warrior died, a prisoner, the next morning after I left him. And the fol-
lowing very interesting account of his last moments, was furnished me by Dr. Weedon,
the surgeon who was by him, with the officers of the garrison, at Os-ce-o-la's request.

" About half an hour before he died, he seemed to be sensible that he was dying ; and
although he could not speak, he signified by signs that he wished me to send for the chiefs
and for the officers of the post, whom I called in. He made signs to his wives (of whom
he had two, and also two fine little children by his side,) to go and bring his full dress,
which he wore in time of war ; which having been brought in, herose up in his bed, which
was on the floor, and put on his shirt, his leggings and moccasins— girded on his war-belt—
his bullet-pouch and powder-horn, and laid his knife by the side of . him on the floor. Ho
then called for his red paint, and his looking-glass, which was held before him, when he

222

to-morrow morning for New York, and I must use the opportunity ; so I
shall from necessity, leave the subject of Os-ce-o-la and the Seminoleea
for future consideration. Adieu.

deliberately painted one half of his face, his neck and his throat — his wrists — the backs of
his bands, and the handle of his knife, red with vermilion ; a custom practiced when the
irrevocable oath of war and destruction is taken. His knife he then placed in its sheath,
nnder his belt ; and he carefully arranged his turban on his head, and his three ostrich
plumes that he was in the habit of wearing in it. Being thus prepared in full dress, he
laid down a few minutes to recover strength sufiBcient, when he rose up as before, and
with most benignant and pleasing smiles, extended his hand to me and to all of the officers
and chiefs that were around him ; and shook hands with us all in dead silence ; and also with
his wives and his little children ; he made a signal for them to lower him down upon his
bed, which was done, and he then slowly drew from his war-belt, his scalping-knife, which
he firmly grasped in his right hand, laving it across the other, on his breast, and ia a
moment smiled away his last breath, without a struggle or a groan."

172

O.Ca'.'i'

305

223

LETTER— No. 58.

NORTH WESTERN FRONTIER.

Having finished my travels in the ** Far West" for awhile, and being
detained a little time, sans occupation, in my nineteenth or twentieth transit
of what, in common parlance is denominated the Frontier ; I have seated
myself down to give some further account of it, and cf the doings and habits
of people, both red and white, who live upon it.

The Frontier may properly be denominated the fleeting and unsettled line
extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Lake of the Woods, a distance of
three thousand miles; which indefinitely separates civilized from Indian
population — a moving barrier, where the unrestrained and natural propen-
sities of two people are concentrated, in an atmosphere of lawless iniquity,
that oflfends Heaven, and holds in mutual ignorance of each other, the
honourable and virtuous portions of two people, which seem destined never
to meet.

From what has been said in the foregoing epistles, the reader will agree
that I have pretty closely adhered to my promise made in the commence-
ment of them; that I should confine my remarks chiefly to people I have
visited, and customs that I have seen, rather than by taking up his time
with matter that might be gleaned from books. He will also agree, that I
have principally devoted my pages, as I promised, to an account of the con-
dition and customs of those Indians whom I have found entirely beyond the
Frontier, acting and living as Nature taught them to live and act, with-
out the examples, and consequently without the taints of civiUzed encroach-
ments .

He win, I flatter myself, also yield me some credit for devoting the time
and space I have occupied in my first appeal to the world, entirely to the con-
dition and actions of the living, rather than fatiguing him with theories of
the living or the dead. I have theories enough of my own, and have as
closely examined the condition and customs of these people on the Frontier,
as of those living beyond it — and also their past and present, and prospec-
tive history ; but the reader will have learned, that my chief object in these
Letters, has been not only to describe what I have seen, but of those things,
such as I deemed the most novel and least understood ; which has of course
confined my remarks heretofore, mostly to the character and condition of
those tribes living entirely in a state of nature.

2-24

And as I have now a little leisure, and no particular tribes before me to
speak of, the reader will allow me to glance my eye over the whole Indian
country for awhile, both along the Frontier and beyond it ; taking a hasty
and brief survey of them, and their prospects in the aggregate ; and by not
sedng quite as distinctly as I have been in the habit of doing heretofore,
taking pains to tell a little more emphatically what I think, and what I have
thought of those things that I have seen, and yet have told but in part.

I have seen a vast many of these wild people in my travels, it will be ad-
mitted by all. And I have had toils and difhculties, a.nd dangers to encoun-
ter in paying them my visits ; yet I have had my pleasures as I went along,
in shaking their friendly hands, that never had felt the contaminating touch of
money, or the withering embrace of pockets ; I have shared the comforts
of their hospitable wigwams, and always have been preserved unharmed in
their country. And if I have spoken, or am to speak of them, with a seeming
bias, the reader will know what allowance to make for me, who am standing
as the champion of a people, who have treated me kindly, of whom 1 feel
bound to speak well ; and who have no means of speaking for themselves.

Of the dead, to speak kindly, and to their character to render justice, is
always a praiseworthy act ; but it is yet far more charitable to extend the
hand of liberality, or to hold the scale of justice, to the living who are able
to feel the benefit of it. Justice to the dead is generally a charity, inas-
much as it is a kindness to living friends ; but to the poor Indian dead, if
it is meted out at all, which is seldom the case, it is thrown to the grave
with him, where he has generally gone without friends left behind him to
inherit the little fame that is reluctantly allowed him while living, and much
less likely to be awarded to him when dead. Of the thousands and millions,
therefore, of these poor fellows who are dead, and whom we have thrown into
their graves, there is nothing that I could now say, that would do them any
good, or that would not answer the world as well at a future time as at the
nresent : while there is a debt that we are owing to those of them who are
yet living, which I think justly demands our attention, and all our sym-
pathies at this moment.

The peculiar condition in which we are obliged to contemplate these most
unfortunate people at this time — hastening to destruction and extinction, as
they evidently are, lays an uncompromising claim upon the sympathies of
the civilized world, and gives a deep interest and value to such records as
are truly made — setting up, and perpetuating from the life, their true native
character aid customs.

If the great family of North American Indians were all dying by a scourge or
epidemic oil the country, it would be natural, and a virtue, to weep for them;
but merelj to sympathize with them ^and but partially to do that) when
they are dying at our hands, and rendering their glebe to our possession,
would be to subvert the simplest law of Nature, and turn civilized man,
with all his boasted virtues, back to worse than savage barbarism.

225

Justice to a nation who are dying, need never be expected from the hands
of their destroyers ; and where injustice and injury are visited upon the weak
and defenceless, from ten thousand hands — from Governments — monopolies
and individuals — the offence is lost in the inseverable iniquity in which all
join, and for which nobody is answerable, unless it be for their respective
amounts, at a final day of retribution.

Lono^ and cruel experience has well proved that it is impossible for en-
lightened Governments or money-making individuals to deal with these
credulous and unsophisticated people, without the sin of injustice ; but the
humble biographer or historian, who goes amongst them from a different
motive, may come out of their country with his hands and his conscience
clean, and himself an anomaly, a white man dealing with Indians, and
meting out justice to them ; which I hope it may be my good province to do
with my pen and my brush, with which, at least, I will have the singular
and valuable satisfaction of having done them no harm.

With this view, and a desire to render justice to my readers also, I have
much yet to say of the general appearance and character of the Indians — of
their condition and treatment ; and far more, I fear, than I can allot to the
little space I have designed for the completion of these epistles.

Of the general appearance of the North American Indians, much might
be yet said, that would be new and instructive. In stature, as 1 have al-
ready said, there are some of the tribes that are considerably above the ordi-
nary height of man, and others that are evidently below it ; allowing their
average to be about equal to that of their fellow-men in the civilized world.
In girth they are less, and lighter in their limbs, and almost entirely free
from corpulency or useless flesh. Their bones are lighter, their skulls are
thinner, and their muscles less hard than those of their civilized neighbours,
excepting in the legs and feet, where they are brought into more continual
action by their violent exercise on foot and on horseback, which swells the
muscles and gives them great strength in those limbs, which is often quite
as conspicuous as the extraordinary development of muscles in the shoulders
and arms of our labouring men.

Although the Indians are generally narrow in the shoulders, and less
powerful with the arms, yet it does not always happen by any means, that
they are so effeminate as they look, and so widely inferior in brachial
strength, as the spectator is apt to believe, from the smooth and rounded
appearance of their limbs. The contrast between one of our labouring men
when he denudes his limbs, and the figure of a naked Indian is to be sure
very striking, and entirely too much so, for the actual difference in the power
of the two persons. There are several reasons for this which account for so
disproportionate a contrast, and should be named-

The labouring man, who is using his limbs the greater part of his life in
lifting heavy weights, &c. sweats them with the weight of clothes which he
has on him, which softens the integuments and the flesh, leaving the muscles

VOL. Ji, G G

22b'

to stand out in more conspicuous relief when they are exposed ; whilst the
Indian, who exercises his limbs for the most of his life, denuded ani',
exposed to the air, gets over his muscles a thicker and more compact layer
of integuments which hide them from the view, leaving the casual spectator,
who sees them only at rest, to suppose them too decidedly inferior to those
which are found amongst people of his own colour. Of muscular strength
in the legs, I have met many of the most extraordinary instances in the In-
dian country, that ever I have seen in my life ; and I have watched and
studied such for hours together, with utter surprise and admiration, in the
violent exertions of their dances, where they leap and jump with every nerve
strung, and every muscle swelled, till their legs will often look like a bundle
of ropes, rather than a mass of human flesh. And from all that I have seen,
I am inclined to say, that whatever differences there may be between the
North American Indians and their civilized neighbours in the above respects,
they are decidedly the results of different habits of life and modes of educa-
tion rather than of any difference in constitution. And I would also venture
the assertion, that he who would see the Indian in a condition to judge of
his muscles, must see him in motion ; and he who would get a perfect study
for an Hercules or an Atlas, should take a stone-mason for the upper part of
his figure, and a Camanchee or a Blackfoot Indian from the waist downwards
to the feet.

There is a general and striking character in the facial outline of the North
American Indians, which is bold and free, and would seem at once to stamp
them as distinct from natives of other parts of the world. Their noses are
generally prominent and aquiline — and the whole face, if divested of paint
and of copper-colour, would seem to approach to the bold and European cha-
racter. Many travellers have thought that their eyes were smaller than those
of Europeans; and there is good cause for one to believe so, if he judges
from first impressions, without taking pains to inquire into the truth and
causes of things. I have been struck, as most travellers, no doubt have,
with the want of expansion and apparent smallness of the Indians' eyes,
which I have found upon examination, to be principally the effect of con-
tinual exposui'e to the rays of the sun and the wind, without the shields that
are used by the civilized world ; and also when in-doors, and free from those
causes, subjected generally to one more distressing, and calculated to pro-
duce similar results, the smoke that almost continually hangs about their
wigwams, which necessarily contracts the lids of the eyes, forbidding that
full flame and expansion of the eye, that the cool and clear shades of our
civilized domicils are calculated to promote.

The teeth of the Indians are generally regular and sound, and wonderfully
preserved to old age, owing, no doubt, to the fact that they live without the
spice.s of life — without saccharine and without salt, which are equally de-
structive to teeth, in civilized communities. Their teeth, though sound, are
not white, having a yellowish cast ; but for the same reason that a negro's

227

teeth are " like ivory," they look white — set as they are in bronze, as any
one with a tolerable set of teeth can easily test, by painting his face the co-
lour of an Indian, and grinning for a moment in his looking-glass.

Beards they generally have not — esteeming them great vulgarities, and
using every possible means to eradicate them whenever they are so unfortu-
nate as to be annoyed with them. Different writers have been very much
at variance on this subject ever since the first accounts given of these people;
and there seems still an unsatisfied curiosity on the subject, which 1 would
be glad to say that I could put entirely at rest.

From the best information that I could obtain amongst forty-eight tribes
that I have visited, I feel authorized to say, that, amongst the wild tribes,
where they have made no efforts to imitate white men, at least, the propor-
tion of eighteen out of twenty, by nature are entirely without the appearance
of abeard; and of the very few who have them bynature, nineteen out of twenty
eradicate it by plucking it out several times in succession, precisely at the
age of puberty, when its growth is successfully arrested ; and occasionally
one may be seen, who has omitted to destroy it at that time, and subjects
his chin to the repeated pains of its extractions, which he is performing with
a pair of clamshells or other tweezers, nearly every day of his life — and oc-
casionally again, but still more rarely, one is found, who from carelessness or
inclination has omitted both of these, and is allowing it to grow to the length
of an inch or two on his chin, in which case it is generally very soft, and
exceedingly sparse. Wherever there is a cross of the blood with the Euro-
pean or African, which is frequently the case along the Frontier, a propor-
tionate beard is the result ; and it is allowed to grow, or is plucked out with
much toil, and with great pain.

There has been much speculation, and great variety of opinions, as to the
results of the intercourse between the European and African population with
the Indians on the borders; and I would not undertake to decide so diffi-
cult a question, though I cannot help but express my opinion, which is made
up from the vast many instances that I have seen, that generally speaking,
these half-breed specimens are in both instances a decided deterioration from
the two stocks, from which they have sprung ; which I grant may be the
consequence that generally flows from illicit intercourse, and from the inferior
rank in which they are held by both, (which is mostly confined to the lowest
and most degraded portions of society), rather than from any constitutional
objection, necessarily growing out of the amalgamation.

The finest built and most powerful men that I have ever yet seen, have
been some of the last-mentioned, the negro and the North American
Indian mixed, of equal blood. These instances are rare to be sure, yet
are occasionally to be found amongst the Seminolees and Cherokees, and
also amongst the Camanchees, even, and the Caddoes ; and I account for it
in this way : From the slave-holding States to the heart of the country of a

228

wild tribe of Indians, through almost boundless and impassable wilds and
swamps, for hundreds of miles, it requires a negro of extraordinary leg and
courage and perseverance, to travel ; absconding from his master's fields, to
throw himself into a tribe of wild and hostile Indians, for the enjoyment of his
liberty ; of which there are occasional instances, and when they succeed, they
are admired by the savage ; and as they come with a good share of the tricks
and arts of civilization, they are at once looked upon by the tribe, as extra-
ordinary and important personages ; and generally marry the daughters of
chiefs, thus uniting theirs with the best blood in the nation, which produce
these remarkably fine and powerful men that I have spoken of above.

Although the Indians of North America, where dissipation and disease
liave not got amongst them, undoubtedly are a longer lived and healthier
race, and capable of enduring far more bodily privation and pain, than civi-
lized people can ; yet I do not believe that the differences are constitutional,
or anything more than the results of different circumstances, and a different
education. As an evidence in support of this assertion, I will allude to the
liundreds of men whom I have seen, and travelled with, who have been for
several years together in the Rocky Mountains, in the employment of the
Fur Companies ; where they have lived exactly upon the Indian system, con-
tinually exposed to the open air, and the weather, and, to all the disappoint-
ments and privations peculiar to that mode of life ; and I am bound to say,
that I never saw a more hardy and healthy race of men in my life, whilst
they remain in the country ; nor any who fail to pieces quicker when they
get back to confined and dissipated life, which they easily fall into, when
they return to their own country.

The Indian women who are obliged to lead lives of severe toil and drudg-
ery, become exceedingly healthy and robust, giving easy birth and strong
constitutions to their children ; which, in a measure, may account for the
simplicity and fewness of their diseases, which in infancy and childhood are
very seldom known to destroy life.

If there were anything like an equal proportion of deaths amongst the
Indian children, that is found in the civilized portions of the world, the In-
dim country would long since have been depopulated, on account of the
decided disproportion of children they produce. It is a very rare occurrence
for an Indian woman to be " blessed" with more than four or five children
during her life ; and generally speaking, they seem contented with two or
three; when in civilized communities it is no uncommon thing for a woman
to be the mother of ten or twelve, and sometimes to bear two or even three at
a time ; of which I never recollect to have met an instance during all my ex-
tensive travels in the Indian country, though it is possible that I might
occasionally have passed them.

For so striking a dissimilarity as there evidently is between these people,
and those living according to the more artificialmodesof life, in a subject,se€rn-

229

ingly alike natural to both, the reader will perhaps expect me to furnish some
rational and decisive causes. Several very plausible reasons have been ad-
vanced for such a deficiency on the part of the Indians, by authors who have
written on the subject, but whose opinions I should be very slow to adopt ;
inasmuch as they have been based upon the Indian's inferiority, (as the same
authors have taken great pains to prove in most other respects,) lo their pale-
faced neighbours.

I know of but one decided cause for this difference, which I would venture
to advance, and Avhich I confidently believe to be the principal obstacle to
a more rapid increase of their families ; which is the very great length of
time that the women submit to lactation, generally carrying their children at
the breast to the age of two, and sometimes three, and even four years !

The astonishing ease and success with which the Indian women pass
through the most painful and most trying of all human difficulties, which
fall exclusively to the lot of the gentler sex ; is quite equal, I have found
from continued enquiry, to the representations that have often been made to
the world by other travellers, who have gone before me. Many people have
thought this a wise provision of Nature, in framing the constitutions of these
people, to suit the exigencies of their exposed lives, where they are beyond
the pale of skilful surgeons, and the nice little comforts that visit the sick
beds in the enlightened world ; but I never have been willing to give to
Nature quite so much credit, for stepping aside of her own rule, which I
believe to be about half way between — from which I am inclined to think
that the refinements of art, and its spices, have led the civilized world into
the pains and perils of one unnatural extreme ; whilst the extraordinary
fatigue and exposure, and habits of Indian life, have greatly released them
from natural pains, on the other. With this view of the case, I fully believe
that Nature has dealt everywhere impartially ; and that, if from their child-
hood, our mothers had, like the Indian women, carried loads like beasts of
burthen — and those over the longest journeys, and highest mountains — had
swam the broadest rivers — and galloped about for months and even years
of their lives, astride of their horse's backs ; we should have taxed them as
lightly in stepping into the world, as an Indian pappoose does its mother,
who ties her horse under the shade of a tree for half an hour, and before
night, overtakes her travelling companions with her infant in her arms, which
has often been the case.

As to the probable origin of the North American Indians, which is one of
the first questions that suggests itself to the enquiring mind, and will be per-
haps, the last to be settled ; I shall have little to say in this place, for the
reason that so abstruse a subject, and one so barren of positive proof, would
require in its discussion too much circumstantial evidence for my allowed
limits ; which I am sure the world will agree will be filled up much more
consistently with the avowed spirit of this work, by treating of that which

230

admits of an abundance of proof — their actual existence, their customs — and
misfortunes ; and the suggestions of modes for the amelioration of their
condition.

For a professed philanthropist, I should deem it cruel and hypocritical to
waste time and space in the discussion of a subject, ever so interesting,
(though unimportant), when the present condition and prospects of these
people are calling so loudly upon the world for justice, and for mercy ; and
when their evanescent existence and customs are turning, as it were, on a
wheel before us, but soon to be lost ; whilst the mystery of their origin can
as well be fathomed at a future day as now, and recorded with their exit.

Very many people look upon the savages of this vast country, as an
" Anomaly in Nature ;" and their existence and origin, and locality, things
that needs must be at once accounted for.

Now, if the world will allow me, (and perhaps they may think me singular
for saying it), I would say, that these things are, in my opinion, natural and
simple ; and, like all other works of Nature, destined to remain a mystery to
mortal man ; and if man be anywhere entitled to the name of an anomaly, it
is he who has departed the farthest from the simple walks and actions of his
nature.

It seems natural to enquire at once who these people are, and from whence
they came ; but this question is natural, only because we are out of nature.
To an Indian, such a question would seem absurd — he would stand aghast
and astounded at the anomaly before him — himself upon his own ground,
'* where the Great Spirit made him" — hunting in his own forests ; if an
exotic, with a " paleface," and from across the ocean, should stand before
him, to ask him where he came from, and how he got there !

I would invite this querist, this votary of science, to sit upon a log with his
red acquaintance, and answer the following questions : —

" You white man, where you come from ?"

" From England, across the water."

" How white man come to see England ? how you face come to get
white, ha ?"

I never yet have been made to see the necessity of showing how these
people came here, or that they came here at all ; which might easily have
been done, by the way of Behring's Straits from the North of Asia. I should
much rather dispense with such a necessity, than undertake the other neces-
sities that must follow the establishment of this ; those of showing how the
savages paddled or drifted in their canoes from this Continent, after they had
got here, or from the Asiatic Coast, and landed on all the South Sea Islands,
which we find to be inhabited nearly to the South Pole. For myself, I am
quite satisfied with the fact, which is a thing certain, and to be relied on, that
this Continent was found peopled in every part, by savages ; and so, nearly
every Island in the South Seas, at the distance of several thousand miles
from either Continent ; and I am quite willing to surrender the mystery to

231

abler pens than my own — to theorists who may have the time, and the means
to prove to the world, how those rude people wandered there in their bark
canoes, without water for their subsistence, or compasses to guide them on
their way.

The North American Indians, and all the inhabitants of the South Sea
Islands, speaking some two or three hundred different languages, entirely dis-
similar, may have all sprung from one stock ; and the Almighty, after creat-
ing man, for some reason that is unfathomable to human wisdom, might have
left the whole vast universe, with its severed continents, and its thousand
distant isles everywhere teeming with necessaries and luxuries, spread out for
man's use ; and there to vegetate and rot, for hundreds and even thousands
of centuries, until ultimate, abstract accident should throw him amongst
these infinite mysteries of creation ; the least and most insignificant of which
have been created and placed by design. Human reason is weak, and
human ignorance is palpable, when man attempts to approach these un-
searchable mysteries ; and I consider human discretion well applied, when it
beckons him back to things that he can comprehend ; where his reason, and
all his mental energies can be employed for the advancement and benefit of
his species. With this conviction, I feel disposed to retreat to the ground
that I have before occupied — to the Indians, as they are, and where they
are ; recording amongst them living evidences whilst they live, for the use
of abler theorists than myself — who may labour to establish their origin,
which may be as well (and perhaps better) done, a century hence, than at
the present day.

The reader is apprised, that I have nearly filled the limits allotted to
these epistles ; and I assure him that a vast deal which I have seen must
remain untold — whilst from the same necessity, I must tell him much less
than I think, and beg to be pardoned if I withhold, till some future occasion,
many of my reasons for, thinking.

I believe, with many others, that the North American Indians are a mixed
people — that they have Jewish blood in their veins, though I would not
assert, as some have undertaken to prove, " that they are Jews" or that
they are "<Ae ten lost tribes of Israel." From the character and confor-
maiion of their heads, I am compelled to look upon them as an amalgam
race, but still savages ; and from many of their customs, which seem to me, to
be peculiarly Jewish, as well as from the character of their heads, I am forced
to believe that some part of those ancient tribes, who have been dispersed
by Christians in so many ways, and in so many different eras, have found
their way to this country, where they have entered amongst the native stock,
and have lived and intermarried with the Indians, until their identity has
been swallowed up and lost in the greater numbers of their new acquaint-
ance, save the bold and decided character which they have bequeathed to
the Indian races ; and such of their customs as the Indians were pleased to
adopt, and which they have preserved to the present day.

232

I am induced to believe thus from the very many customs which I have wit-
nessed amongst them, that appear to be decidedly Jewish ; and many of them
so peculiarly so, that it would seem almost impossible, or at all events, exceed-
ingly improbable, that two people in a state of nature should have hit upon
them, and practiced them exactly alike.

The world need not expect me to decide so interesting and difficult a
question ; but I am sure they will be disposed to hear simply my opinion,
which I give in this place, quite briefly, and with the utmost respectful de-
ference to those who think differently. I claim no merit whatever, for ad-
vancing such an opinion, which is not new, having been in several works
advanced to the world by far abler pens than my own, with volumes of
evidence, to the catalogue of which, I feel quite sure I shall be able to add
some new proofs in the proper place. If I could establish the fact by posi-
tive proof, I should claim a great deal of applause from the world, and should,
no doubt, obtain it ; but, like everything relating to the origin and early
history of these unchronicled people, I believe this question is one that will
never be settled, but will remain open for the opinions of the world, which
will be variously given, and that upon circumstantial evidence alone.

I am compelled to believe that the Continent of America, and each of the
other Continents, have had their aboriginal stocks, peculiar in colour and in
character — and that each of these native stocks has undergone repeated
mutations (at periods, of which history has kept no records), by erratic
colonies from abroad, that have been engrafted upon them — mingling with
them, and materially affecting their original character. By this process, I
believe that the North American Indians, even where we find them in their
wildest condition, are several degrees removed from their original character;
and that one of their principal alloys has been a part of those dispersed
people, who have mingled their blood and their customs with them, and even
in their new disguise, seem destined to be followed up with oppression and
endless persecution.

The first and most striking fact amongst the North American Indians
that refers us to the Jews, is that of their worshipping in all parts, the Great
Spirit, or Jehovah, as the Hebrews were ordered to do by Divine precept,
instead of a plurality of gods, as ancient pagans and heathens did — and
their idols of their own formation. The North American Indians, are no-
where idolaters — they appeal at once to the Great Spirit, and know of no
mediator, either personal or symbolical.

The Indian tribes are everywhere divided into bands, with chiefs, symbols,
badges, &c., and many of their modes of worship I have found exceedingly
like those of the Mosaic institution. The Jews had their sanctum sanctorums,
and so may it be said the Indians have, in their council or medicine-houses,
which are always held as sacred places. As the Jews had, they have their
high-priests and their prophets. Amongst the Indians as amongst the ancient
Hebrews, the women are not allowed to worship with the men — and in all

233

cases also, they eat separately. The Indians everywhere, like the Jews, be-
lieve that they are the favourite people of the Great Spirit, and thev are
certainly, like those ancient people, persecuted, as every man's hand seems
raised against them — and they, like the Jews, destined to be dispersed over
the world, and seemingly scourged by the Almighty, and despised of man.

In their marriages, tiie Indians, as did tlie ancient Jews, uniformly buy
their wives by giving presents — and in many tribes, very closely resemble
them in other forms and ceremonies of their marriages.

In their preparations for war, and in peace-making, they are strikingly
similar. In their treatment of the sick, burial of the dead and mourning,
they are also similar.

In their bathing and ablutions, at all seasons of the year, as a part of
their religious observances — having separate places for men and women to
perform these immersions — they resemble again. And the custom amongst
the women, of absenting themselves during the lunar influences, is exactly
consonant to the Mosaic law. This custom of separation is an uniform
one amongst the different tribes, as far as I have seen them in their primi-
tive state, and be it Jewish, natural or conventional, it is an indispensable
'irm with these wild people, who are setting to the civilized world, this and
nany other examples of decency and propriety, only to be laughed at by
their wiser neighbours, who, rather than award to the red man any merit
for them, have taken exceeding pains to call them but the results of ignorance
and superstition.

So, in nearly every family of a tribe, will be found a small lodge, large
enough to contain one person, which is erected at a little distance from the
family lodge, and occupied by the wife or the daughter, to whose posses-
sion circumstances allot it ; where she dwells alone until she is prepared to
move back, and in the meantime the touch of her hand or her finger to
the chief's lodge, or his gun, or other article of his household, consigns it
to destruction at once ; and in case of non-conformity to this indispen-
sable form, a woman's life may, in some tribes, be answerable for misfortunes
fhat happen to individuals or the tribe, in the interim.

After this season of separation, purification in running water, and an-
^ninting, precisely in accordance with the Jewish command, is requisite
rifore she can enter the family lodge. Such is one of the extraordinary
bservances amongst these people in their wild state ; but along the Fron-
tier, where white people have laughed at them for their forms, they have
departed from this, as from nearly everything else that is native and original
about them.

In their feasts, fastings and sacrificing, they are exceedingly like those
ancient people. Many of them have a feast closely resembling the annual
feast of the Jewish passover ; and amongst others, an occasion much like
the Israelitish feast of the tabernacles, which lasted eight days, (when history
tells us they carried bundles of willow boughs, and fasted several days and

VOL. II. H H

234

nights) making sacrifices of the first fruits and best of everything, closely
resembling the sin-ofFering and peace-ofFering of the Hebrews.*

These, and many others of their customs would seem to be decidedly
Jfewish ; yet it is for the world to decide how many of them, or whether all
of them, might be natural to all people, and, therefore, as well practiced by
these people in a state of nature, as to have been borrowed from a foreign
nation.

Amongst the list of their customs however, we meet a number which had
their origin it would seem, in the Jewish Ceremonial code, and which are so
very peculiar in their forms, that it would seem quite improbable, and almost
impossible, that two diiferent people should ever have hit upon them alike,
without some knowledge of each other. These I consider, go farther than
anything else as evidence, and carry, in my mind, conclusive proof that these
people are tinctured with Jewish blood ; even though the Jewish sabbath has
been lost, and circumcision probably rejected ; and dog's flesh, which was
an abomination to the Jews, continued to be eaten at their feasts by all the
tribes of Indians ; not because the Jews have been prevailed upon to use it,
but, because they have survived only, as their blood was mixed with that of
the Indians, and the Indians have imposed on that mixed blood the same
rules and regulations that governed the members of the tribes in general.

Many writers are of opinion, that the natives of America are all from one
stock, and their languages from one root — that that stock is exotic, and that
that language was introduced with it. And the reason assigned for this
theory is, that amongst the various tribes, there is a reigning similarity in
looks —and in their languages a striking resemblance to each other.

Now, if all the world were to argue in this way, 1 should reason just in
the other ; and pronounce this, though evidence to a certain degree, to be
very far from conclusive, inasmuch as it is far easier and more natural for dis-
tinct tribes, or languages, grouped and used together, to assimilate than to
dissimilate ; as the pebbles on a sea-shore, that are washed about and jostled
together, lose their angles, and incline at last to one rounded and uniform
shape. So that if there had been, ab origine, a variety of different stocks in
America, with different complexions, with different characters and customs,
and of different statures, and speaking entirely different tongues ; where
they have been for a series of centuries living neighbours to each other,
moving about and intermarrying; I think we might reasonably look for quite
as great a similarity in their personal appearance and languages, as we now
find ; when, on the other hand, if we are to suppose that they were all from
one foreign stock, with but one language, it is a difficult thing to conceive how

" See tlie four days' religious ceremonies of the Mandans, and use of the willo-w
boughs, and sacrifices of fingers, &c. in Vol. I. pp. 159. 170 ; and also the custom of
war-chiefs wearing horns on their head-dresses, like the Israelitish chiefs of groat re-
IJf.WTl, Vol. I. p. lO-i.

235

or in what space of time, or for what purpose, they could have formed so
many tongues, and so widely different, as those that are now spoken on the
Continent.

It is evident I think, that if an island or continent had been peopled with
black, white and red ; a succession of revolving centuries of intercourse
amongst these different colours would have had a tendency to bring them
to one standard complexion, when no computable space of time, nor any
conceivable circumstances could restore them again ; re-producing all, or
either of the distinct colours, from the compound.

That customs should be found similar, or many of them exactly the same,
on the most opposite parts of the Continent, is still less surprising ; for these
will travel more rapidly, being more easily taught at Treaties and festivals be-
tween hostile bands, or disseminated by individuals travelling through neigh-
bouring tribes, whilst languages and blood require more time for their ad-
mixture.

That the languages of the North American Indians, should be found to be
so numerous at this day, and so very many of them radically different, is a
subject of great surprise, and unaccountable, whether these people are de-
rived from one individual stock, or from one hundred, or one thousand.

Though languages like colour and like customs, are calculated to assimi-
late, under the circumstances above named ; yet it is evident that, (if derived
from a variety of sources), they have been unaccountably kept more distinct
than the others ; and if from one root, have still more unaccountably dis-
similated and divided into at least one hundred and fifty, two-thirds of which,
I venture to say, are entirely and radically distinct; whilst amongst the
people who speak them, there is a reigning similarity in looks, in features and
in customs, which would go very far to pronounce them one family, by nature
or by convention.

I do not believe, with some very learned and distinguished writers, that
the languages of the North American Indians can be traced to one root or
to three or four, or any number of distinct idioms ; nor do I believe all, or
any one of them, will ever be fairly traced to a foreign origin.

If the looks and customs of the Jews, are decidedly found and identified
with these people — and also those of the Japanese, and Calmuc Tartars, I
think we have but little, if any need of looking for the Hebrew language, or
either of the others, for the reasons that I have already given ; for the feeble
colonies of these, or any other foreign people that might have fallen by ac-
cident upon the shores of this great Continent, or who might have approached
it by Behring's Straits, have been too feeble to give a language to fifteen or
twenty millions of people, or in fact to any portion of them ; being in all
probability, in great part cut to pieces and destroyed by a natural foe ; leav-
ing enough perhaps, who had intermarried, to ionoculate their blood and
their customs; which have run, like a drop in a bucket, and slightly tinc-
tured the character of tribes who have sternly resisted their languages, whicL

236

would naturally, under such circumstances, have made but very little
inipression.

Such I consider the condition of the Jews in North America ; and perhaps
the Scandanavians, and the followers of Madoc, who by some means, and
some period that I cannot name, have thrown themselves upon the shores of
this country, and amongst the ranks of the savages ; where, from destructive
wars with their new neighbours, they have been overpowered, and perhaps,
with the exception of those who had intermarried, they have been destroyed,
yet leaving amongst the savages decided marks of their character ; and many
of their peculiar customs, which had pleased, and been adopted by the savages,
while they bad sternly resisted others : and decidedly shut out and discarded
their language, and of course obliterated everything of their history.

That there should often be found contiguous to each other, several tribes
speaking dialects of the same language, is a matter of no surprise at all ; and
wherever such is the case, there is resemblance enough also, in looks and
customs, to show that they are parts of the same tribes, which have com-
paratively recently severed and wandered apart, as their traditions will
generally show ; and such resemblances are often found and traced, nearly
across the Continent, and have been accounted for in some of my former
Letters. Several very learned gentlemen, whose opinions I would treat
with the greatest respect, have supposed that all the native languages of
America were traceable to three or four roots ; a position which I will venture
to say will be an exceedingly difficult one for them to maintain, whilst re-
maining at home and consulting books, in the way that too many theories
are supported ; and one infinitely more difficult to prove if they travel
amongst the different tribes, and collect their own information as they travel.*
I am quite certain that I have found in a number of instances, tribes who have
long lived neighbours to each other, and who, from continued intercourse,
had learned mutually, many words of each others language, and adopted
them for common use or mottoes, as often, or oftener than we introduce the
French or Latin phrases in our conversation ; from which the casual visitor

• For the satisfaction of the reader, I have introduced in the Appendix to this VoUime,
Letter B, a brief vocabulary of the languages of several adjoining tribes in the North
West, from which, by turning to it, they can easily draw their own inferences. These
words have all been written down by myself, from the Indian's mouths, as they have been
correctly translated to me ; and I think it will at once be decided, that there is very little
affinity or resemblance, if any, between them. I have therein given a sample of the Black-
foot language, yet, of that immense tribe who all class under the name of Blackfoot, there
are the Cotonnes and the Grosventres des Prairies — whose languages are entirely distinct
from this — and also from each other — and in the same region, and neighbours to them, are
also the Chayennes — the Knisteneaux, the Crows, the Shoshonees, and Pawnees ; all of
whose languages are as distinct, and as widely different, as those that I have given. These
facts, I think, without my going further, will fully show the entire dissimilarity between
these languages, and support me to a certain extent, at all events, in the opinion I have
advanced above.

2:7

to one of these tribes, might naturally suppose there was a similarity in their
languages; when a closer examiner would find that the idioms and structure
of the several languages were entirely distinct.

I believe that in this way, the world who take but a superficial glance at
them, are, and will be, led into continual error on this interesting subject ;
one that invites, and well deserves from those learned gentlemen, a fair in-
vestigation by them, on the spot ; rather than so limited and feeble an ex-
ammation as /have been able to make of it, or that they, can make, in their
parlours, at so great a distance from them, and through such channels as
they are obliged to look to for their information.

Amongst the tribes that I have visited, I consider that thirty, out of the
forty-eight, are distinct and radically different in their languages, and eigh-
teen are dialects of some three or four. It is a very simple thing for the off-
hand theorists of the scientific world, who do not go near these people, to
arrange and classify them ; and a very clever thing to simplify the subject,
and bring it, like everything else, under three or four heads, and to solve, ana
resolve it, by as many simple rules.

I do not pretend to be able to give to this subject, or to that of the prooa-
ble origin of these people, the close investigation that these interesting si**^-
jects require and deserve ; yet I have travelled and observed enough amongfei
them, and collected enough, to enable me to form decided opinions of my
own ; and in my conviction, have acquired confidence enough to tell them, and
at the same time to recommend to the Government or institutions of my own
country, to employ men of science, such as I have mentioned, and protect
them in their visits to these tribes, where " the truth, and the whole truth"
may be got ; and the languages of all the tribes that are yet in existence,
(^rnany of which are just now gasping them out in their last breath,) may
be snatched and preserved from oblivion ; as well as their looks and their
custo7ns, to the preservation of which my. labours have been principally
devoted.

I undertake to say to such gentlemen, who are enthusiastic and qualified,
that here is one of the most interesting subjects that they could spend the
energies of their valuable lives upon, and one the most sure to secure for
them that immortality for which it is natural and fair for all men to look.

From what has been said in the foregoing Letters, it will have been stvr.i
that there are three divisions under which the North American Indians nvA/
be justly considered ; those who are dead — those who are dying, and those who
are yet living and flourishing in their primitive condition. Of the dead, i have
little to say at present, and I can render them no service — of the living, there
is much to be said, and I shall regret that the prescribed limits of these
epistles, will forbid me saying all that I desire to say of them and their
condition.

The present condition of these once numerous people, contrasted with
what it was, and what it is soon to be, is a subject of curious interest, as well

238

a» some importance, to the civilized world — a subject well entitled to the
attention, and very justly commanding the sympathies of, enlightened com-
munities. There are abundant proofs recorded in the history of this country,
and to which I need not at this time more particularly refer, to shew that
this very numerous and respectable part of the human family, which occu-
pied the different parts of North America, at the time of its first settlement
by the Anglo-Americans, contained more than fourteen millions, who have
been reduced since that time, and undoubtedly in consequence of that set-
tlement, to something less than two millions !

This is a startling fact, and one which carries with it, if it be the truth,
other facts and their results, which are equally startling, and such as every
inquiring mind should look into. The first deduction that the mind draws
from such premises, is the rapid declension of these people, which must at
that rate be going on at this day ; and sooner or later, lead to the most me-
lancholy result of their final extinction.

Of this sad termination of their existence, there need not be a doubt in
the minds of any man who will read the history of their former destruction ;
contemplating them swept already from two-thirds of the Continent ; and
who will then travel as I have done, over the vast extent of Frontier, and
witness the modes by which the poor fellows are falling, whilst contending
for their rights, with acquisitive white men. Such a reader, and such a
traveller, 1 venture to say, if he has not the heart of a brute, will shed tears
for them ; and be ready to admit that their character and customs, are at
this time, a subject of interest and importance, and rendered peculiarly so
fiom the facts that they are dying at the hands of their Christian neighbours ;
and, from all past experience, that there will probably be no effectual plan
instituted, that will save the remainder of them from a similar fate. As they
stand at this day, there may be four or five hundred thousand in their prim-
itive state ; and a million and a half, that may be said to be semi-civilized,
contending with the sophistry of white men, amongst whom they are tim-
idly and unsuccessfully endeavouring to hold up their heads, and aping
their modes ; whilst they are swallowing their poisons, and yielding their
lands and their lives, to the superior tact and cunning of their merciless
cajolers.

In such parts of their community, their customs are uninteresting ; being
but poor and ridiculous imitations of those that are bad enough, those
practiced by their first teachers — but in their primitive state, their modes of
life and character, before they are changed, are subjects of curious interest,
ana all that I have aimed to preserve. Their personal appearance, their
dress, and many of their modes of life, I have already described.

For their Government, which is purely such as has been dictated to them
by Nature and necessity alone, they are indebted to no foreign, native or
civilized nation. For their religion, which is simply Theism, they are in-
debted to the Great Spirit, and not to the Christian world. For their modes

239

of war, they owe nothing to enlightened nations — using only those weapons
and those modes which are prompted by nature, and within the means oi
their rude manufactures.

If, therefore, we do not find in their systems of polity and jurisprudence*
the efficacy and justice that are dispensed in civilized institutions — if we do
not find in their religion the light and the grace that flow from Christian
faith — if in wars they are less honourable, and wage them upon a system of
*' murderous stratagem," it is the duty of the enlightened world, who ad-
minister justice in a better way — who worship in a more acceptable form —
and who war on a more honourable scale, to make great allowance for their
ignorance, and yield to their credit, the fact, that if their systems are less
wise, they are often more free from injustice — from hypocrisy and from
carnage.

Their Governments, if they have any (for I am almost disposed to ques-
tion the propriety of applying the term), are generally alike ; each tribe
having at its head, a chief (and most generally a war and civil chief), whom
it would seem, alternately hold the ascendency, as the circumstances of
peace or war may demand their respective services. These chiefs, whose
titles are generally hereditary, hold their offices only as long as their ages
will enable them to perform the duties of them by taking the lead in war-
parties, &c., after which they devolve upon the next incumbent, who is the
eldest son of the chief, provided he is decided by the other chiefs to be as
worthy of it as any other young man in the tribe — in default of which, a
chief is elected from amongst the sub-chiefs ; so that the office is hereditary
on condition, and elective in emergency.

The chief has no controul over the life or limbs, or liberty of his subjects,
nor other power whatever, excepting that of influence which he gains by his
viitues, and his exploits in war, and which induces his warriors and braves
to follow him, as he leads them to battle — or to listen to him when he speaks
and advises in council. In fact, he is no more than a leader, whom every
young warrior may follow, or turn about and go back from, as he pleases,
if he is willing to meet the disgrace that awaits him, who deserts his chief
in the hour of danger.

It may be a difficult question to decide, whether their Government savours
most of a democracy or an aristocracy ; it is in some respects purely demo-
cratic— and in others aristocratic. The influence of names and families is
strictly kept up, and their qualities and relative distinctions preserved in
heraldric family Arms ; yet entirely severed, and free from influences of
wealth, which is seldom amassed by any persons in Indian communities ;
and most sure to slip from the hands of chiefs, or others high in office, who
are looked upon to be liberal and charitable ; and oftentimes, for the sake
of popularity, render themselves the poorest, and most meanly dressed and
equipped of any in the tribe.

These people have no written laws, nor others, save the penalties affixed

240

to certain crimes, by long-standing custom, or by the decisions of the chiefs^
in council, who form a sort of Court and Congress too, for the investigation
of crimes, and transaction of the public business. For the sessions of these
dignitaries, each tribe has, in the middle of their village, a Government or
council-house, v?here the chiefs often try and convict, for capital offences —
leaving the punishment to be inflicted by the nearest of kin, to whom all
eyes of the nation are turned, and who has no means of evading it without
suffering disgrace in his tribe. For this purpose, the custom, which is the
common law of the land, allows him to use any means whatever, that he
may deem necessary to bring the thing effectually about ; and he is allowed
to waylay and shoot down the criminal — so that punishment is certain and
cruel, and as effective from the hands of a feeble, as from those of a stout
man, and entirely beyond the hope that often arises from the " glorious un-
certainty of the law."

As I have in a former place said, cruelty is one of the leading traits of the
Indian's character ; and a little familiarity with their modes of life and govern-
ment will soon convince the reader, that certainty and cruelty in punish-
ments are requisite (where individuals undertake to inflict the penalties of
the laws), in order to secure the lives and property of individuals in society.

In the treatment of their prisoners also, in many tribes, they are in the
habit of inflicting the most appalling tortures, for which the enlightened
world are apt to condemn them as cruel and unfeeling in the extreme ; with-
out stopping to learn that in every one of these instances, these cruelties are
practiced by way of retaliation, by individuals or families of the tribe, whose
relatives have been previously dealt with in a similar way by their enemies,
and whose manes they deem it their duty to appease by this horrid and
cruel mode of retaliation.

And in justice to the savage, the reader should yet know, that amongst
these tribes that torture their prisoners, these cruelties are practiced but upon
the few whose lives are required to atone for those who have been similarly
dealt with by their enemies, and that the remainder are adopted info the
tribe, by marrying the widows whose husbands have fallen in battle, in
which capacity they are received and respected lilse others of the tribe, and
enjoy equal rights and immunities. And before we condemn them too far,
we should yet pause and enquire whether in the enlightened world we are
not guilty of equal cruelties — whether in the ravages and carnage of war,
and treatment of prisoners, we practice any virtue superior to this ; and
whether the annals of history which are familiar to all, do not furnish
abundant proof of equal cruelty to prisoners of war, as well as in many
instances, to the members of our own respective communities. It is a re-
markable fact and one well recorded in history, as it deserves to be, to the
honour of the savage, that no instance has been known of violence to their
captive females, a virtue yet to be learned in civilized warfare.

If their punishments are certain and cruel, they have the merit of belnop

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241

few^ and those confined chiefly to their enemies. It is natural to be cruel to
enemies ; and in this, I do not see that the improvements of the enligh-
tened and Christian world have yet elevated them so very much above the
savage. To their friends, there are no people on earth tliat are more kind ;
and cruelties and punishments (except for capital ofTences) are amongst
themselves, entirely dispensed with. No man in their communities is subject
to any restraints upon his liberty, or to any corporal or degrading punish-
ment ; each one valuing his limbs, and his liberty to use them as his inviolable
right, which no power in the tribe can deprive him of ; whilst each one holds
the chief as amenable to him as the most humble individual in the tribe.

On an occasion when I had interrogated a Sioux chief, on the Upper
Missouri, about their Government — their punishments and tortures of pri-
soners, for which 1 had freely condemned them for the cruelty of ihe practice,
he took occasion when I had got through, to ask me some questions relative
to modes in the civilized world, which, witli his comments upon them, were
nearly as follow ; and struck me, as I think they must every one, with great
force.

" Among white people, nobody ever take your wife — take your children
— take your mother, cut off nose — cut eyes out — burn to death ?" No !
"Then you no cut off nose — you no cut out eyes — you no burn to death —
very good."

He also told me he had often heard that white people hung their crimi-
nals by the neck and choked them to death like dogs, and those their own
people ; to which I answered, " yes." He then told me he had learned that
they shut each other up in prisons, where they keep them a great part of
their lives because they cant -pay money ! I replied in the affirmative to
this, which occasioned great surprise and excessive laughter, even amongst
the women. He told me that he had been to our Fort, at Council Bluffs,
where we had a great many warriors and braves, and he saw three of them
taken out on the prairies and tied to a post and whipped almost to deatli,
and he had been told that they submit to all this to get a little mxoney,
" yes." He said he had been told, that when all the white people were
born, their white medicine-men had to stand by and look on — that in the
Indian country the women would not allow that — they would be ashamed —
that he had been along the Frontier, and a good deal amongst the
white people, and he had seen them whip their little children — a thing that
is very cruel — he had heard also, from several white medicine-men, that the
Great Spirit of the white people was the child of a white woman, and that
he was at last put to death by the white people ! This seemed to be a thing
that he had not been able to comprehend, and he concluded by saying, " the
Indians' Great Spirit got no mother — the Indians no kill him, he never die."
He put me a chapter of other questions, as to the trespasses of the white peo-
ple on their lands — their continual corruption of the morals of their women
— and digging open the Indians' graves to get their bones, &C- To all of

VOL. II. 1 1

242

which I was compelled to reply in the affirmative, and quite glad to close
my note-book, and quietly to escape from the throng that had collected
around me, and saying (though to myself and silently), that these and an
hundred other vices belong to the civilized world, and are practiced upon (but
certainly, in no instance, reciprocated by) the " cruel and relentless savage."
Of their modes of war, of which, a great deal has been written by other
travellers — I could say much, but in the present place, must be brief. All
wars, offensive or defensive, are decided on by the chiefs and doctors in
council, where majority decides all questions. After their resolve, the chief
conducts and leads — his pipe with the reddened stem is sent through the
tribe by his runnels, and every man who consents to go to war, draws the
smoke once through its stem ; he is then a volunteer, like all of their soldiers
in war, and bound by no compulsive power, except that of pride, and dread
of the disgrace of turning back. After the soldiers are enlisted, the war-
dance is performed in presence of the whole tribe ; when each warrior in
warrior's dress, with weapons in hand, dances up separately, and striking
the reddened post, thereby takes the solemn oath not to desert his party.

The chief leads in full dress to make himself as conspicuous a mark as
possible for his enemy ; whilst his men are chiefly denuded, and their limbs
and faces covered with red earth or vermilion, and oftentimes with charcoal
and grease, so as completely to disguise them, even from the knowledge of
many of their intimate friends.

At the close of hostilities, the two parties are often brought together by
a flag of truce, where they sit in Treaty, and solemnize by smoking through
the calumet or pipe of peace, as I have before described ; and after that,
their warriors and braves step forward, with the pipe of peace in the left
hand, and the war-club in the right, and dance around in a circle — going
through many curious and exceedingly picturesque evolutions in the ^'pipe
of peace dance."

To each other I have found these people kind and honourable, and en-
dowed with every feeling of parental, of filial, and conjugal affection, that
is met in more enlightened communities. I have found them moral and
religious : and 1 am bound to give them great credit for their zeal, which is
often exhibited in their modes of worship, however insufficient they may
seem to us, or may be in the estimation of the Great Spirit.
I I have heard it said by some very good men, and some who have even
I been preaching the Christian religion amongst them, that they have no reli-
j gion — that all their zeal in their worship of the Great Spirit was but the
I foolish excess of ignorant superstition — that their humble devotions and
supplications to the Sun and the Moon, where many of them suppose that
the Great Spirit resides, were but the absurd rantings of idolatry. To such
opinions as these I never yet gave answer, nor drew other instant inferences
from them, than, that from the bottom of my heart, I pitied the persons who
gave them.

243

1 fearlessly assert to the world, (^ftnd I defy contradiction,) that the North
American Indian is everywhere, in his native state, a highly moral and reli-
gious being, endowed by his Maker, with an intuitive knowledge of some
great Author of his being, and the Universe ; in dread of whose displeasure
he constantly lives, with the apprehension before him, of a future state,
where he expects to be rewarded or punished according to the merits he has
gained or forfeited in this world.

I have made this a subject of unceasing enquiry during all my travels,
and fro.-ri every individual Indian witli whom I have conversed on the sub-
ject, from the highest to the lowest and most pitiably ignorant, I have re-
ceived evidence enough, as well as from their numerous and humble modes
of worship, to convince the mind, and elicit the confessions of, any man
whose gods are not beaver and muskrats' skins — or whose ambition is not
to be deemed an apostle, or himself, their only redeemer.

Morality and virtue, 1 venture to say, the civilized world need not under-
take to teach them ; and to support me in this, I refer the reader to the
interesting narrative of the Rev. Mr. Parker, amongst the tribes through
and beyond the Rocky Mountains ; to the narratives of Captain Bonneville,
through the same regions ; and also to the reports of the Reverend Messrs.
Spalding and Lee, who have crossed the Mountains, and planted their little
colony amongst them. And I am also allowed to refer to the account given
by the Rev. Mr. Beaver, of the tribes in the vicinity of the Columbia and
the Pacific Coast.

Of their extraordinary modes and sincerity of worship, I speak with equal
confidence ; and although I am compelled to pity them for their ignorance.
I am bound to say that I never saw any other people of any colour, who
spend so much of their lives in humbling themselves before, and worshipping
the Great Spirit, as some of ihese tribes do, nor any whom I would not as soon
suspect of insincerity and hypocrisy.

Self-denial, which is comparatively a word of no meaning in the en-
lightened world ; and self-torture and almost self-immolation, are continual
modes of appealing to the Great Spirit for his countenance and forgiveness ;
and these, not in studied figures of rhetoric, resounding in halls and syna-
gogues, to fill and astonish the ears of the multitude ; but humbly cried forth
from starved stomachs and parched throats, from some lone and favourite
haunts, where the poor penitents crawl and lay with their faces in the dirt from
day to day, and day to day, sobbing forth their humble confessions of their
sins, and their earnest implorations for divine forgiveness and mercy.

I have seen man thus prostrating himself before his Maker, and worship-
ping as Nature taught him ; and I have seen mercenary white man with his
bottle and its associate vices, unteaching them ; and after that, good and
benevolent and pious men, devotedly wearing out their valuable lives, all but
in vain, endeavouring to break down confirmed habits of cultivated vices
and dissipation, and to engraft upon them the blessings of Christianity and

244

civilization. I have visited most of the stations, and am acquainted with
many of the excellent missionaries, who, with their families falling by the
diseases of the country about them, are zealously labouring to benefit these
benighted people; but I have, with thousands and millions of others, to
deplore the ill success with which their painful and faithful labours have
generally been attended.

This failure I attribute not to the want of capacity on the part of the
savage, nor for lack of zeal and Christian endeavours of those who have
been sent, and to whom the eyes of the sympathizing part of the world have
been anxiously turned, in hopes of a more encouraging account. The mis-
fortune has been, in my opinion, that these efforts have mostly been made
in the wrong place — along the Frontier, where (though they have stood
most in need of Christian advice and example) they have been the least
ready to hear it or to benefit from its introduction ; where whiskey has
been sold for twenty, or thirty, or fifty years, and every sort of fraud and
abuse that could be engendered and visited upon them, and amongst
their families, by ingenious, money -making white man ; rearing up under a
burning sense of injustice, the most deadly and thwarting prejudices, whicb<
and which alone, in my opinion, have stood in the way of the introduction
of Christianity — of agriculture, and everything which virtuous society has
attempted to teach them ; which they meet and suspect, and reject as some
new trick or enterprize of white man, which is to redound to his advantage
rather than for their own benefit.

The pious missionary finds himself here, I would venture to say, in an inde-
scribable vicinity of mixed vices and stupid ignorance, that disgust and dis-
courage him ; and just at the moment when his new theory, which has been at
first received as a mystery to them, is about to be successfully revealed and
explained, the whiskey bottle is handed again from the bushes ; and the poor
Indian (whose perplexed mind is just ready to catch the brilliant illumination
of Christianity), grasps it, and, like too many people in the enlightened
world, quiets his excited feelings with its soothing draught, embracing most
affectionatelv the friend that brines him the most sudden relief ; and is con-
tented to fall back, and linger — and die in the moral darkness that is about
him.

And notwithstanding the great waste of missionary labours, on many por-
tions of our vast Frontier, there have been some instances in which their
efforts have been crowned with signal success, (even with the counteracting
obstacles that have stood in their way), of which instances I have made some
mention in former epistles.

I have always been, and still am, an advocate for missionary efforts
amongst these people, but I never have had much faith in the success of any
unless they could be made amongst the tribes in their primitive state ; where,
if the strong arm of the Government could be extended out to protect them, I
believe that with the example of good and pious men, teaching them at the

245

same time, agriculture and the useful arts, much could be done with these
interestinf^ and talented people, for the successful improvement of their moral
and physical condition.

I have ever thought, and still think, that the Indian's mind is a beautiful
blank, on whichanything might be written,if the right mode were taken todoit.

Could the enlightened and virtuous society of the East, have been brought
in contact with him as his first neighbours, and his eyes been first opened to im-
provements and habits worthy of his imitation ; and could religion have been
taught him without the interference of the counteracting vices by which he
is surrounded, the best eflforts of the world would not have been thrown away
upon him, nor posterity been left to say, in future ages, when he and his race
shall have been swept from the face of the earth, that he was destined by
Heaven to be unconverted and uncivilized.

The Indian's calamity is surely far this side of his origin^ — his misfortune
has been in his education. Ever since our first acquaintance with these
people on the Atlantic shores, have we regularly advanced upon them ; and
far a-head of good and moral society have their first teachers travelled (and
are yet travelling), with vices and iniquities so horrible as to blind their eyes
for ever to the light and loveliness of virtue, when she is presented to them.

It is in the bewildering maze of this moving atmosphere that he, in his
native simphcity, finds himself lost amidst the ingenuity and sophistry of his
new acquaintance. He stands amazed at the arts and improvements of civi-
lized life — his proud spirit which before was founded on his ignorance, droops,
and he sinks down discouraged, into melancholy and despair ; and at that
moment grasps the bottle (which is ever ready), to soothe his anguished
feelings to the grave. It is in this deplorable condition that the civilized
world, in their approach, have ever found him ; and here in his inevitable
misery, that the charity of the world has been lavished upon him, and reli-
gion has exhausted its best efforts almost in vain.

Notwithstanding this destructive ordeal, through which all the border
tribes have had to pass, and of whom I have spoken but in general terms,
there are striking and noble exceptions on the Frontiers, of individuals, and
in some instances, of the remaining remnants of tribes, who have followed
the advice and example of their Christian teachers ; who have entirely dis-
carded their habits o^dissipation, and successfully outlived the dismal wreck
of their tribe — having embraced, and are now preaching, the Christian reli-
gion ; and proving by the brightest example, that they are well worthy of
the sincere and well-applied friendship of the enlightened world, rather than
their enmity and persecution.

By nature they are decent and modest, unassuming and inoffensive — and
all history (which I could quote to the end of a volume), proves them to have
been found friendly and hospitable, on the first approach of white people to
their villages on all parts of the American Continent — ^and from what I have
seen, (which I offer as proof, rather than what I have read), I am willing and

246

proud to add, for the ages who are only to r..ad of these people, my testi-
mony to that which was given by the immortal Columbus, who wrote back
to his Royal Master and Mistress, from his first position on the new Conti-
nent, " I swear to your Majesties, that there is not a better people in tlie
world than these ; more affectionate, affable, or mild. They love their
neighbours as themselves, and they always speak smilingly."

They are ingenious and talented, as many of their curious manufactures
will prove, which are seen by thousands in my Collection.

In the mechanic arts they have advanced but little, probably because they
have had but little use for them, and have had no teachers to bring them
out. In the^we arts, they are perhaps still more rude, and their productions
are very few. Their materials and implements that they work with, are ex-
ceedingly rare and simple ; and their principal efforts at pictorial effects, are
found on their buffalo robes ; of which I have given some account in former
Letters, and of which I shall herein furnish some additional information.

I have been unable to find anything like a system of hieroglyphic writing
amongst them ; yet, their picture writings on the rocks, and on their robes,
ap{.roach somewhat towards it. Of the former, I have seen a vast many in
the course of my travels ; and I have satisfied myself that they are gene-
rally the totems (symbolic names) merely, of Indians who have visited those
places, and from a similar feeling of vanity that everywhere belongs to man
much alike, have been in the habit of recording their names or symbols, such
as birds, beasts, or reptiles ; by which each family, and each individual, is
generally known, as white men are in the habit of recording their names at
Watering places, &c.

Many of these have recently been ascribed to the North-men, who proba-
bly discovered this country at an early period, and have been extinguished
by the savage tribes. I might have subscribed to such a theory, had I not
at the Red Pipe Stone Quarry, where there are a vast number of these
inscriptions cut in the solid rock, and at other places also, seen the
Indian at work, recording his totem amongst those of more ancient dates;
which convinced me that they had been progressively made, at different
ages, and without any system that could be called hieroglyphic writing.

The paintings on their robes are in many cases exceedingly curious, and
generally represent the exploits of their military lives, which they are proud
of recording in this way and exhibiting on their backs as they walk.

In PLATES 306 and 307, are facsimiles of the paintings on a Crow
robe, which hangs in my Collection, amongst many others from various
tribes ; exhibiting the different tastes, and state of the fine arts, in the dif-
ferent tribes. AW the groups on these two plates, are taken from one
robe ; and on the original, are quite picturesque, from the great variety of
vivid colours which they have there given to them. The reader will recollect
the robe of Mah-to-toh-pa, which I described in the First Volume of this
work. And he will find here, something very similar, the battles of a dis-

247

tinguished war-chiefs life; all pourtrayed by his own hand, and displayed
on his back as he walks, where all can read, and all of course are challenged
to deny.*

In PLATE 308, are facsimile outlines from about one-half of a group on
a Pawnee robe, also hanging in the exhibition ; representing a procession of
doctors or medicine-men, when one of them, the foremost one, is giving free-
dom to his favourite horse. This is a very curious custom, which I found
amongst many of the tribes, and is done by his announcing to all of his
fraternity, that on a certain day, he is going to give liberty to his faithful
horse that has longest served him, and he expects them all to be present ; at
the time and place appointed, they all appear on horseback, most fantasti-
cally painted, and dressed, as well as armed and equipped ; when the owner
of the horse leads the procession, and drives before him his emancipated
horse, which is curiously painted and branded ; which he holds in check
with a long laso. When they have arrived at the proper spot on the prairie,
the ceremony takes place, of turning it loose, and giving it, it would seem,
as a sort of sacrifice to the Great Spirit. This animal after this, takes his
range amongst the bands of wild horses ; and if caught by the laso, as is
often the case, is discharged, under the superstitious belief that it belongs to
the Great Spirit, and not with impunity to be appropriated by thern.

Besides this curious custom, there are very many instances where these ma-
gicians, (the avails of whose practice enable them to do it, in order to enthral
the ignorant and superstitious minds of their people, as well as, perhaps, to
quiet their own apprehensions,) sacrifice to the Great or Evil Spirit, their
horses and dogs, by killing them instead of turning them loose. These
sacrifices are generally made immediately to their medicine-bags, or to their
family -medicine, which every family seems to have attached to their house-
hold, in addition to that which appropriately belongs to individuals. And
in making these sacrifices, and all gifts to the Great Spirit, there is one
thing yet to be told — that whatever gift is made, whether a horse, a dog,
or other article, it is sure to be the best of its kind, that the giver possesses,
otherwise he subjects himself to disgrace in his tribe, and to the ill-will of the
power he is endeavouring to conciliate.!

In PLATE 309, there is a. facsimile copy of the paintings on another Paw-
nee robe, the property and the designs of a distinguished doctor or medicine-
man. In the centre he has represented himseli' in full dress on his favourite

* The reader will bear it in mind, that these drawings, as well as all those of the kind
that have heretofore been given, and those that are to follow, have been correctly traced
with a Camera, from the robes and other works of the Indians belonging to my Indian
Museum.

t Lewis and Clarke, in their Tour across the Rocky Mountains, have given an account
of a Mandan chief, who had sacrificed seventeen horses to his medicine-bag — to conciliate
the good will of the Great Spirit. And I have met many instances, where, while boasting
to me of their exploits and their liberality, they have claimed to have given several of their
liorii«s to the Great Spirit, and as many to white men !

248

horse; and, at the top and bottom, it would seem, he has endeavoured to
set up his claims to the reputation of a warrior, with the heads of seven
victims which he professes to have slain in battle. On the sides there are
numerous figures, very curiously denoting his profession, where he is vomit-
ing and purging his patients, with herbs ; where also he has represented his
medicine or totem, the Bear. And also the rising of the sun, and the differ-
ent phases of the moon, which these magicians look to with great dependence
for the operation of their charms and mysteries in effecting the cure of their
patients.

In PLATE 310, IS a further exemplification of symbolic representations,
as well as of the state of the arts of drawing and design amongst these
rude people. This curious chart is a facsimile copy of an Indian song,
which was drawn on a piece of birch bark, about twice the size of the plate,
and used by the Chippeways preparatory to a medicine- hunt, as they term
it. For the bear, the moose, the beaver, and nearly every animal they hunt
for, they have certain seasons to commence, and previous to which, they
" make medicine" for several days, to conciliate the bear (or other) Spirit,
to ensure a successful season. For this purpose, these doctors, who are the
only persons, generally, who are initiated into these profound secrets, sing
forth, with the beat of the drum, the songs which are written in characters on
these charts, in which all dance and join in the chorus ; although they are ge-
nerally as ignorant of the translation and. meaning of the song, as a merepassing
traveller ; and which they have no means of learning, except by extraordinary
claims upon the tribe, for their services as warriors and hunters ; and then
by an extraordinary fee to be given to the mystery-men, who alone can
reveal them, and that under the most profound injunctions of secrecy. I was
not initiated far enough in this tribe, to explain the mysteries that are hidden
on this little chart, though I heard it sung over, and listened, (I am sure) at
least one hour, before they had sung it all.

Of these kinds of symbolic writings, and totems, such as are given in
PLATE 311, recorded on rocks and trees in the country, a volume might be
filled ; and from the knowledge which I have been able to obtain of them,
I doubt whether I should be able to give with them all, much additional in-
formation, to that which I have briefly given in these few simple instances.
Their picture writing, which is found on their robes, their wigwams, and
different parts of their dress, is also voluminous and various ; and can be
best studied by the curious, on the numerous articles in the Museum, where
they have the additional interest of having been traced by the Indian's own
hand.

In PLATE 312, is also ^facsimile of a Mandan robe, with a representa-
tion of the sun, most wonderfully painted upon it. This curious robe, which
was a present from an esteemed friend of mine amongst those unfortunate
people, is now in my Collection ; where it may speak for itself, after this
brief introduction.

116

&mAA

rr r^l-Jn

JO 9

177

G. CoutLvn,

310

178

-rp>>

m>

A^/1

^t\ ^ 4(3

,1(T^

311

^

119

iJ>.-

& Catbr,

312

249

From these brief hints, which I have too hastily thrown together, it will
be seeR that these people are ingenious, and have much in their modes as well
as m their manners, to enlist the attention of the merely curious, even if they
should not be drawn nearer to them by feelings of sympathy and pity for
their existing and approaching misfortunes.

But he who can travel amongst them, or even sit down in his parlour, with
his map of North America before him, with Halkett's Notes on the History of
the North American Indians (and several other very able works that have
been written on their character and history), and fairly and truly contem-
plate the system of universal abuse, that is hurrying such a people to utter
destruction, will find enough to enlist all his sympathies, and lead him to
cultivate a more general and intimate acquaintance with their true character.

He who will sit and contemplate that vast Frontier, where, by the past
policy of the Government, one hundred and twenty thousand of these poor
people, (who had just got initiated into the mysteries and modes of civilized
life, surrounded by examples of industry and agriculture which they were
beginning to adopt), have been removed several hundred miles to the West,
to meet a second siege of the whiskey-sellers and traders in the wilderness,
to whose enormous exactions their semi-civilized habits and appetites have
subjected them, will assuredly pity them. Where they have to quit their
acquired luxuries, or pay ten times their accustomed prices for them — and to
scuffle for a few years upon the plains, with the wild tribes, and with white
men also, for the flesh and the skins of the last of the buffaloes ; where their
carnage, but not their appetites, must stop in a few years, and with the
ghastliness of hunger and despair, they will find themselves gazing at each
other upon the vacant waste, which will afford them nothing but the empty air,
and the desperate resolve to flee to the woods and fastnesses of the Rocky
Mountains; whilst more lucky white man will return to his comfortable home,
with no misfortune, save that of deep remorse and a guilt,;' conscience.
Such a reader will find enough to claim his pity and engage his wiiole soul's
indignation, at the wholesale and retail system of injustice, which has been,
from the very first landing of our forefathers, (and is equally at the present
day, being) visited upon these poor, and naturally unoffending, untres-
passing people.

In alluding to the cruel policy of removing the different tribes to their new
country, West of the Mississippi, I would not do it without the highest re-
spect to the motives of the Government — and to the feelings and opinions of
those worthy Divines, whose advice and whose services were instrumental in
bringing it about ; and who, no doubt were of opinion that they were eflfect-
ing a plan that would redound to the Indian's benefit. Sucfi was once my own
opinion — but when I go, as I have done, through every one of those tribes
removed, who had learned at home to use the ploughshare, and also contrac-
ted a passion, and a taste for civilized manufactures ; and after that, removed
twelve and fourteen hundred mil West, to a wild and lawless region, whe

VOL. II. K K

250

their wants are to be supplied by the traders, at eight or ten times the orices
they have been in the habit of paying ; where whiskey can easily be sold to
them in a boundless and lawless forest, without the restraints that can be suc-
cessfully put upon the sellers of it in their civilized neighbourhoods ; and where
also they are allured from the use of their ploughs, by the herds of buffaloes
and other wild animals on the plains ; I am compelled to state, as my irre-
sistible conviction, that I believe the system one well calculated to benefit
tl;e interests of the voracious land-speculators and Indian Traders ; the first
of whom are ready to grasp at their lands, as soon as they are vacated —
and the others, at the annuities of one hundred and twenty thousand ex-
travagant customers. I believe the system is calculated to aid these, and
perhaps to facilitate the growth and the wealth of the civilized border ;
but I believe, like everything else that tends to white man's aggrandizement,
and the increase of his wealth, it will have as rapid a tendency to the
poverty and destruction of the poor red men ; who, unfortunately, almost
seem doomed, never in any way to be associated in interest with their pale-
faced neighbours.

The system of trade, and the small-pox, have been the great and whole-
sale destroyers of these poor people, from the Atlantic Coast to where they
are now found. And no one but God, knows where the voracity of the one
is to stop, short of the acquisition of everything that is desirable to money-
making man in the Indian's country ; or when the mortal destruction of the
other is to be arrested, whilst there is untried flesh for it to act upon, either
within or beyond the Rocky Mountains.

From the first settlements on the Atlantic Coast, to where it is now carried
on at the base of the Rocky Mountains, there has been but one system of
trade and money-making, by hundreds and thousands of white men, who are
desperately bent upon making their fortunes in this trade, with the unsophis-
ticated children of the forest ; and generally they have succeeded in the
achievement of their object.

The Governments of the United States, and Great Britain, have always
held out every encouragement to the Fur Traders, whose traffic has uniformly
been looked upon as beneficial, and a source of wealth to nations ; though
surely, they never could have considered such intercourse as advantageous
to the savage-
Besides the many thousands who are daily and hourly selling whiskey and
rum, and useless gewgaws, to the Indians on the United States, the Canada,
the Texian and Mexican borders, there are, of hardy adventurers, in the
Rocky Mountains and beyond, or near them, and out of all limits of laws,
one thousand armed men in the annual employ of the United States' Fur
Companies — an equal number in the employment of the British Factories,
and twice that number in the Russian and Mexican possessions ; all of whom
pervade the countries of the wildest tribes they can reach, with guas and
gunpowder in their hands, and other instruments of death, unthought of

251

by the simple savage, calculated to terrify and coerce him to favouraole
terms in his trade : and in all instances they assume the right, (and prove it,
if necessary, by the superiority of their weapons,) of hunting and trappmg
the streams and lakes of their countries.

These traders, in addition to the terror, and sometimes death, that they
carry into these remote realms, at the muzzles of their guns, as well as oy
whiskey and the small-pox, are continually arming tribe after tribe with nre-
arms ; who are able thereby, to bring their unsuspecting enemies into un-
equal combats, where they are slain by thousands, and who have no way io
heal the awful wound but by arming themselves in turn ; and in a similar
manner reeking their vengeance upon their defenceless enemies on the West.
Tn this wholesale way, and by whiskey and disease, tribe after tribe sink their
heads and lose their better, proudest half, before the next and succeeding
waves of civiUzation flow on, to see or learn anything definite of them.

Without entering at this time, into any detailed history of this immense
system, or denunciation of any of the men or their motives, who are en-
gaged in it, I would barely observe, that, from the very nature of their
traffic, where their goods are to be carried several thousands of miles, on
the most rapid and dangerous streams, over mountains and other almost
discouraging obstacles ; and that at the continual hazard to their lives, from
accidents and diseases of the countries, the poor Indians are obliged to pay
sucli enormous prices for their goods, that the balance of trade is so de-
cidedly against them, as soon to lead them to poverty ; and, unfortunately
lor them, they mostly contract a taste for whiskey and rum, which are not
only ruinous in their prices, but in their effects destructive to life — destroy-
ing the Indians, much more rapidly than an equal indulgence will destroy
the civilized constitution.

In the Indian communities, where there is no law of the land or custom
denominating it a vice to drink whiskey, and to get drunk ; and where the
poor Indian meets whiskey tendered to him by white men, whom he con-
siders wiser than himself, and to whom he naturally looks for example ; he
thinks it no harm to drink to excess, and will lie drunk as long as he can
raise the means to pay for it. And after his first means, in his wild slate, are
exhausted, he becomes a beggar for whiskey, and begs until he disgusts,
when the honest pioneer becomes his neighbour ; and then, and not before,
gets the name of the "poor, degraded, naked, and drunken Indian," to
whom the epithets are well and truly applied.

On this great system of carrying the Fur Trade into the Rocky Mountains
and other parts of the wilderness country, where whiskey is sold at the rate of
twenty and thirty dollars per gallon, and most other articles of trade at a
similar rate ; I know of no better comment, nor any more excusable, than
the quotation of a few passages from a very popular work, which is being
read with great avidity, from the pen of a gentleman whose name gives cur-
rency to any book, and whose fine taste, pleasure to all who read. The

252

WO! k I refer to " The Rocky Mountains, or Adventures in the far West ,
by W. Irving," is a very interesting one ; and its incidents, no doubt, are
given with great candour, by the excellent officer, Captain Bonneville, who
spent five years in the region of the Rocky Mountains, on a furlough ;
endeavouring, in competition with others, to add to his fortune, by pushing
the Fur Trade to some of the wildest tribes in those remote regions.

" The worthy Captain (says the Author) started into the country with
"110 men ; whose very appearance and equipment exhibited a piebald mix-
"ture — half-civilized and half-savage, &c." And he also preludes his work
by saving, that it was revised by himself from Captain Bonneville's own
notes, which can, no doubt, be relied on.

This medley group, it seems, traversed the country to the Rocky Moun-
tains, where, amongst the Nez Perces and Flatheads, he says, " They were
'• friendly in their dispositions, and honest to the most scrupulous degree
" in their intercourse with the white men. And of the same people, the Captain
" continues — Simply to call these people religious, would convey but a faint
" idea of the deep hue of piety and devotion which pervades the whole of
" their conduct. Their honesty is immaculate ; and their purity of purpose,
" and their observance of the rites of their religion, are most uniform and re-
" markable. They are, certainly, more like a nation of saints than a horde
" of savages."

Afterwards, of the " Root-Diggers," in the vicinity of the Great Salt
Lake, who are a band of the Snake tribe, (and of whom he speaks thus : —
" In fact, they are a simple, timid, inoffensive race, and scarce provided
"with any weapons, except for the chase"); he says that, "one morning,
" one of his trappers, of a violent and savage character, discovering that his
" traps had been carried off in tlie night, took a horrid oath that he would
" kill the first Indian he should meet, innocent or guilty. As he was returning
" with his comrades to camp, he beheld two unfortunate Root- Diggers seated
" on the river bank fishing — advancing upon them, he levelled his rifle, shot
" one upon the spot, and flung his bleeding body into the stream."

A short time afterwards, when his party of trappers " were about to cross
" Ogden's river, a great number of Shoshokies or Root-Diggers were posted
'■ on the opposite bank, when they imagined they were there with hostile in-
" tent ; they advanced upon them, levelled their rifles, and killed twenty-
" five of them on the spot. The rest fled to a short distance, then halted
" and turned about, howling and whining like wolves, and uttering most
" piteous wailings. The trappers chased them in every direction ; the poor
■" wretches made no defence, but fled with terror ; neither does it appear from
" the accounts of the boasted victors, that a weapon had been wielded, or
'' a weapon launched by the Indians throughout the affair."

After this affair, this " piebald" band of trappers wandered off* to Mon-
terey, on the coast of California, and on their return on horseback through
urj .mm.ense tract of the Root-Diggers' country, he gives the further fol-
iowinci: accounts of their transactions ; —

253

" In tlie course of their journey through the country cf the poor Root-
" Dig:gers, there seems to have been an emulation between them, which could
♦' inflict the greatest outrages upon the natives. The trappers still considered
" them in the light of dangerous foes ; and the Mexicans, very probably,
" charged them with the sin of horse-stealing ; we have no other mode of
" accounting for the infamous barbarities, of which, according to their own
"story, they were guilty — hunting the poor Indians like wild beasts, and
" killing them without mercy — chasing their unfortunate victims at full
"speed; noosing them around the neck with their lasos, and then dragging
" thern to death."

It is due to Captain Bonneville, that the world should know that these
cruel (not " savage') atrocities were committed by his men, when they were
on a Tour to explore the shores of the Great Salt Lake, and many hundreds
of miles from him, and beyond his controul ; and that in his work, both the
Captain and the writer of the book have expressed in a proper way, their
abhorrence of such fiendish iransactions.

A part of the same " piebald mixture" of trappers, who were encamped
in the Riccaree country, and trapping the beavers out of their streams,
when, finding that the Riccarees had stolen a number of their horses one
night, in the morning made prisoners of two of the Riccarees, who loitered
into their camp, and probably without knowledge of the offence committed,
when they were bound hand and foot as hostages, until every one of the
horses should be returned.

" The mountaineers declared, that unless the horses were relinquished, the
" prisoners should be burned to death. To give force to their threat, a pyre
" of logs and faggots was heaped up and kindled into a blaze. The Riccarees
" released one horse, and then another ; but finding that nothing but the
" relinquishment of all their spoils would purchase the lives of their cap-
" tives, they abandoned them to their fate, moving off with many parting
" words and bowlings, when the prisoners were dragged to the blazing pyre,
" and burnt to death in sight of their retreating comrades.

" Such are the savage cruelties that white men learn to practice, who
" mingle in savage life ; and such are the acts that lead to terrible recrimi-
" nation on the part of the Indians. Should we hear of any atrocities com-
" mitted by the Riccarees upon captive white men ; let this signal and recent
'• provocation be born in mind. Individual cases of the kind dwell in the
" recollections of whole tribes — and it is a point of honour and conscience
" to revenge them."*

* During the summer of this transaction I was on the U'pper Missouri river, and had
to pass the Riccaree village in my bark canoe, with only two men, which the reader will
say justly accounts for the advice of Mr. M'Kenzie, to pass the Riccaree village in the
night, which I did, as I have before described, by which means it is possible I preserved
my life, as they had just killed the last Fur Trader in their village, and as 1 have learned
since, were " dancing his sealp" when I came by them.

264

To quote the author further "The facts disclosed jn the present

" work, clearly manifest the policy of establishing military posts, and a
" foounted force to protect our Traders in their journeys across the great
" Western wilds ; and of pushing the outposts into the heart of the singular
" wilderness v/e have laid open, so as to maintain some degree of sway over
*' the country, and to put an end to the kind of ' black mail,' levied on all
" occasions, by the savage ' chivalry of the mountains ' "!

The appalling cruelties in the above quotations require no comment;
and I hope the author, as well as the Captain, who have my warmest appro-
bation for having so frankly revealed them, will pardon me for having
quoted them in this place, as one striking proof of the justice that may be
reasonably expected, in prospect ; and that may fairly be laid to the past
proceedings of these great systems of trading with, and civilizing the savages ;
which have been carried on from the beginning of our settlements on the
Atlantic Coast, to the present day — making first acquaintance with them,
and first impressions of the glorious effects of civilization — and of the
sum total of which, this instance is but a mere point ; but with the sin-
gular merit which redounds to the honour of Captain Bonneville, that he
has frankly told the whole truth ; which, if as fully revealed of all other
transactions in these regions, I am enabled to say, would shake every breast
with ague-chills of abhorrence of civilized barbarities. From the above
facts, as well as from others enumerated in the foregoing epistles, the dis-
cerning reader will easily see how prejudices are raised in the minds of the
savage, and why so many murders of white people are heard of on the Fron-
tier, which are uniformly attributed to the wanton cruelty and rapacity of the
savage — which we denominate " Indian murders," and " ruthless ba.rbarities,"
before we can condescend to go to the poor savage, and ask him for a
reason, which there is no doubt he could generally furnish us.

From these, and hundreds of others that might be named, and equally
barbarous, it can easily be seen, that white men may well feel a dread at
every step they take in Indian realms, after atrocities like these, that call so
loudly and so justly for revenge, in a country where there are no laws to
punish ; but where the cruel savage takes vengeance in his own way — and
white men fall, in the Indian's estimation, not as murdered, but executed,
under the common law of their land.

Of the hundreds and thousands of such murders, as they are denominated
by white men, who are the only ones to tell of them in the civilized world ;
it should also be kept in mind by the reader, who passes his sentence on
them, that they are all committed on Indian ground — that the Indian hunts
not, nor traps anywhere on white man's soil, nor asks him for his lands — or
molests the sacred graves where they have deposited the bones of their
fathers, their wives and their little children.

I have said that the principal means of the destruction of these people,
were the system of trade, and the introduction of small-pox, the in-

255

fallible plague that is consequent, sooner or later, upon the introduction
of trade and whiskey-selling to every tribe. I would venture the asser-
tion, from books that I have searched, and from other evidence, that of
the numerous tribes which have already disappeared, and of those that
have been traded with, quite to the Rocky Mountains, each one has had
this exotic disease in their turn — and in a few months have lost one half
or more of their numbers ; and that from living evidences, and distinct
traditions, this appalling disease has several times, before our days, run
like a wave through the Western tribes, over the Rocky Mountains, and to
the Pacific Ocean — thinning the ranks of the poor Indians to an extent
which no knowledge, save that of the overlooking eye of the Almighty, can
justly comprehend.*

I have travelled faithfully and far, and have closely scanned, with a hope
of fairly pourtraying the condition and customs of these unfortunate people ;
and if in taking leave of my readers, which I must soon do, they should
censure me for any oversight, or any indiscretion or error, I will take to
myself these consoling reflections, that they will acquit me of intention to
render more or less than justice to any one ; and also, that if in my zeal
to render a service and benefit to the Indian, I should have fallen short of
it, I will, at least, be acquitted of having done him an injury. And in
endeavouring to render them that justice, it belongs to me yet to say that
the introduction of the fatal causes of their destruction above-named, has
been a subject of close investigation with me during my travels ; and I have
watched on every part of the Frontier their destructive influences, which
result in the overthrow of the savage tribes, which, one succeeding another,
are continually becoming extinct under their baneful influences. And before
I would expatiate upon any system for their successful improvement and pre-
servation, I would protrude my opinion to the world, which I regret to do,
that so long as the past and present system of trade and whiskey-selling is tole-
rated amongst them, there is little hope for their improvement, nor any chance
for more than a temporary existence. I have closely studied the Indian
character in its native state, and also in its secondary form along our Fron-
tiers; civilized, as it is often (but incorrectly) called. I have seen it in
every phase, and although there are many noble instances to the contrary,
and with many of whom I am personally acquainted ; yet the greater part

* The Reverend Mr. Parker in his Tour across the Rocky Mountains says, that
amongst the Indians below the Falls of the Columbia at least seven-eighths, if not nine-
tenths, as Dr. M'Laughlin believes, have been swept away by disease between the years
1829, and the time that he visited that place in 1836. •' So many and so sudden were the
deaths which occurred, that the shores were strewed with the unburied dead, whole and
large villages were depopulated, and some entire tribes have disappeared." This mortality
he says " extended not only from the Cascades to the Pacific, but from very far North to the
coast of California." These facts, with hundreds of others, shew how rapidly the Indian
population is destroyed, long before wo become acquainted with thfr^n.

256

of those who have lingered along the Frontiers, and been kicked about
like dogs, by white men, and beaten into a sort of a civilization, are very
far from being what I would be glad to see them, and proud to call them,
civilized by the aids and examples of good and moral people. Of the
Indians in their general capacity of civilized, along our extensive Frontier,
and those tribes that I found in their primitive and disabused state, I have
drawn a Table, which I offer as an estimate of their comparative character,
which I trust will be found to be near the truth, generally, though like all
general rules or estimates, with its exceptions. (Vide Appendix C.)

Such are the results to which the present system of civilization brings
that small part of these poor unfortunate people, who outlive the first
calamities of their country ; and in this degraded and pitiable condition,
the most of them end their days in poverty and wretchedness, without
the power of rising above it. Standing on the soil which tliey have occu-
pied from their childhood, and inherited from their fathers ; with the
dread of " pale faces," and the deadly prejudices that have been reared m
their breasts against them, for the destructive influences which they have in-
troduced into their country, which have thrown the greater part of their
friends and connexions into the grave, and are now promising the remainder
of them no better prospect than the dreary one of living a few years longer,
and then to sink into the ground themselves ; surrendering their lands an;!
their fair hunting grounds to the enjoyment of their enemies, and their bones
to be dug up and strewed about the fields, or to be labelled in our Museums.

For the Christian and philanthropist, in any part of the world, there is
enough, I am sure, in the character, condition, and history of these unfor-
tunate people, to engage his sympathies — for the Nation, there is an unre-
quited account of sin and injustice that sooner or later will call for national
retribution — and for the American citizens, who live, every where proud of
their growing wealth and their luxuries, over the bones of these poor fel-
lows, who have surrendered their hunting-grounds and their lives, to the
enjoyment of their cruel dispossessors, there is a lingering terror yet, I fear,
for the reflecting minds, whose mortal bodies must soon take their humble
places with their red, but injured brethren, under the same glebe ; to ap-
pear and stand, at last, with guilt's shivering conviction, amidst the myriad
ranks of accusing spirits, that are to rise in their own fields, at the final
day of resurrection !

257

APPENDIX-A.

EXTINCTION OF THE MANDANS.

From the accounts brought to New York in the fall of 1838, by Messrs. M'Kensie,
Mitchell, and others, from the Upper Missouri, and with whom I conversed on the subject,
it seems that in the summer of that year the small-pox was accidentally introduced
amongst the Mandans, by the Fur Traders ; and that in the course of two months they all
perished, except some thirty or forty, who were taken as slaves by the Riccarees ; an
enemy living two hundred miles below them, and who moved up and took possession of
their village soon after their calamity, taking up their residence in it, it being a better
built village than their own ; and from the lips of one of the Traders who had more
recently arrived from there, I had the following account of the remaining few, in whose
destruction was the final termination of this interesting and once numerous tribe.

The Riccarees, he said, had taken possession of the village after the disease had sub-
sided, and after living some months in it, were attacked by a large party of their enemies,
the Sioux, and whilst fighting desperately in resistance, in which the Mandan prisoners had
taken an active part, the latter had concerted a plan for their own destruction, which was
eifected by their simultaneously running through the piquets on to the prairie, calling out
to the Sioux (both men and women) to kill them, " that they were Riccaree dogs, that
their friends were all dead, and they did not wish to live," — that they here wielded their
weapons as desperately as they could, to excite the fury of their enemy, and that they
were thus cut to pieces and destroyed.

The accounts given by two or three white men, who were amongst the Mandans during
the ravages of this frightful disease, are most appalling and actually too heart-rending and
disgusting to be recorded. The disease was introduced into the country by the Fur
Company's steamer from St. Louis ; which had two of their crew sick with the disease
when it approached the Upper Missouri, and imprudently stopped to trade at the Mandan
village, which was on the bank of the river, where thf> chiefs and others were allowed to
come on board, by which means the disease got ashore.

I am constrained to believe, that the gentlemen in charge of the steamer did not believe
it to be the small-pox ; for if they had known it to be such, I cannot conceive of such
imprudence, as regarded their own interests in the country, as well as the fate of these
poor people, by allowing their boat to advance into the country under such circumstances.
It seems that the Mandans were surrounded by several war -parties of their more
powerful enemies the Sioux, at that unlucky time, and they could not therefore disperse
upon the plains, by which many of them could have been saved ; and they were necessarily
inclosed within the piquets of their village, where the disease in a few days became so
very malignant that death ensued in a few hours after its attacks ; and so slight were their
hopes when they were attacked, that nearly half of them destroyed themselves with their
knives, with their guns, and by dashing their brains out by leaping head-foremost from a
thirty foot ledge of rocks in front of their village. The first symptom of the disease
was a rapid swelling of the body, and so very virulent had it become, that very many
died in two or three hours after their attack, and that in many cases without the appear-
ance of the disease upon the skin. Utter dismay seemed to possess all classes and all ages,
and they gave themselves up in despair, as entirely lost. There was but one continual
crying and howling and praying to the Great Spirit for his protection during the nights
and days ; and there being but few living, and those in too appalling despair, nobody
thought of burying the dead, whose bodies, whole families together, were left in horrid
and loathsome piles in their own wigwams, with a few buffalo robes, &c. thrown over
them, there to decay, and be devoured by their own dogs. That such a proportion of their
community as that above-mentioned, should have perished in so short a time, seems yet
to the reader, an unaccountable thing; but in addition to the causes just mentioned, it
must be borne in mind that this frightful disease is everywhere far more fatal amongst the
native than in civilized population, which may be owing to some extraordinary constitu-
tional susceptibility ; or, I think, more probably, to the exposed lives they live, leading
more directly to fatal consequences. In this, as in most of their diseases, they ignorantly
VOL. II. L L

258

and imprudently plunge into the coldest water, whilst in the highest state of fever, and
often die before they have the power to get out.

Some have attributed the unexampled fatality of this disease amongst the Indians to the
fact of their living entirely on animal food ; but so important a subject for investigation I
must leave for sounder judgments than mine to decide. They are a people whose con-
stitutions and habits of life enable them most certainly to meet most of its ills with less
dread, and with decidedly greater success, than they are met in civilized communities ; and
I would not dare to decide that their simple meat diet was the cause of their fatal exposure
to one frightful disease, when I am decidedly of opinion that it has been the cause of their
exemption and protection from another, almost equally destructive, and, like the former,
jf civilized introduction.

During the season of the ravages of the Asiatic cholera which swept over the greater
part of the western country, and the Indian frontier, I was a traveller through those
regions, and was able to witness its effects ; and I learned from what I saw, as well as from,
fvhat 1 have heard in other parts since that time, that it travelled to and over the frontiers,
carrying dismay and death amongst the tribes on the borders in many cases, so far as they
Qad adopted the civilized modes of life, with its dissipations, using vegetable food and salt ;
3ut wherever it came to the tribes living exclusively on meat, and that without the use of
salt, Its progress was suddenly stopped. I mention this as a subject which I looked upon
IS important to science, and therefore one on which I made many careful enquiries ; and so
far as I have learned along that part of the frontier over which 1 have since passed, I have
to my satisfaction ascertained that such became the utmost limits of this fatal disease in its
travel to the West, unless where it might have followed some of the routes of the Fur
Traders, who, of course, have introduced the modes of civilized life.

From the Trader who was present at the destruction of the Mandans I had many most
wonderful incidents of this dreadful scene, but I dread to recite them. Amongst them,
however, there is one that 1 must briefly describe, relative to the death of that noble gen.
tleman of whom I have already said so much, and to whom I became so much attached,
Mah-tu-toh-pa, or " the Four Bears." This fine fellow sat in his tvigwam and watched
every one of his family die about him, his wives and his little children, after he had
recovered from the disease himself; when he walked out, around the village, and wept
over tbo final destruction of his tribe ; his braves and warriors, whose sinewy arms
dlone he could depend on for a continuance of their existence, all laid low ; when he
came back to his lodge, where he covered his whole family in a pile, with a number
of robes, and wrapping another around himself, went out upon a hill at a little distance,
where he laid several days, despite all the solicitations of the Traders, resolved to starve
himself to death. He remained there till the sixth day, when he had just strength
enough to creep back to the village, when he entered the horrid gloom of his own wig-
wam, and laying his body along-side of the group of his family, drew his robe over him
and died on the ninth day of his fatal abstinence.

So have perished the friendly and hospitable Mandans, from the best accounts 1 could
get ; and although it may be possible that some few individuals may yet be remaining, I
think it is not probable ; and one thing is certain, even if such be the case, that, as a
nation, the Mandans are extinct, having no longer an existence.

There is yet a melancholy part of the tale to be told, relating to the ravages of this
frightful disease in that country on the same occasion, as it spread to other contiguous
tribes, to the Minatarrees, the Knisteneaux, the Blackfeet, the Chayennes and Crows ;
amongst whom 25,000 perished in the course of four or five months, which most appalling
facts i got from Major Piicher, now Superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, from
Mr. M'l\.enzie, and others.

It may be naturally asked here, by the reader, whether the Government of the United
States have taken any measures to prevent the ravages of this fatal disease amongst
these exposed tribes ; to which I answer, that repeated efforts have been made, and so far
generally, as the tribes have ever had the disease, (or, at all events, within the recollec-
tions of those who are now living in the tribes,) the Government agents have succeeded
in introducing vaccination as a protection ; but amongst those tribes in their wild state,
and where they have not sutt'ered with the disease, very little success has been met with
in the attempt to protect them, on account of their superstitions, which have generally
resisted all attempts to introduce vaccination. "Whilst I was on the Upper Missouri,
several surgeons were sent into the country with the Indian agents, where i several times
saw the attempts made without success. They have perfect confidence in the skill of their
own physicians, until the disease has made one slaughter in their tribe, and then, having
seen white men amongst thsm protected by it, they are disposed to receive it, before

G . Ctbiivft

A CHART SHEWXN& 'ITSE MOVES OF THE MANDANS -Si- THE PLACK UK THEIR EKTIN*n'IOX.

259

which they cannot believe that so minute a puncture in the arm is going to protect them
from so fatal a disease ; and as they see white men so earnestly urging it, they decide that
it must be some new mode or trick of pale faces, by which they are to gain some new
advantage over them, and they stubbornly and successfully resist it.

THE WELSH COLONY,

Which I barely spoke of in page 206, of Vol. I. which sailed under the direction of
Prince Madoc, or Madawc, from North Wales, in the early part of the fourteenth century
in ten ships, according to numerous and accredited authors, and never returned to their
own country, have been supposed to have landed somewhere on the coast of North or
South America ; and from the best authorities, (which I will suppose everybody has read,
rather than quote them at this time,) 1 believe it has been pretty clearly proved that they
landed either on the coast of Florida, or about the mouth of the Mississippi, and according
to the history and poetry of their country, settled somewhere in the interior of North
America, where they are yet remaining, intermixed with some of the savage tribes.

In my Letter just referred to, I barely suggested, that the Mandans, whom I found with
60 many peculiarities in looks and customs, which I have already described, might possibly
be the remains of this lost colony, amalgamated with a tribe, or part of a tribe, of the
natives, which would account for the unusual appearances of this tribe of Indians, and
also for the changed character and customs of the Welsh Colonists, provided these be the
remains of them.

Since those notes were written, as will have been seen by my subsequent Letters, and
particularly in page 9 of this Volume, I have descended the Missouri river from the
Mandan village to St. Louis, a distance of 1800 miles, and have taken pains to examine
its shores ; and from the repeated remains of the ancient locations of the Mandans, which
I met with on the banks of that river, I am fully convinced that 1 have traced them down
nearly to the mouth of the Ohio river ; and from exactly similar appearances, which I
recollect to have seen several years since in several places in the interior of the state of
Ohio, I am fully convinced that they have formerly occupied that part of the country,
and have, from some cause or other, been put in motion, and continued to make their
repeated moves until they arrived at the place of their residence at the time of their
extinction, on the Upper Missouri.

In the annexed chart of the Missouri and Ohio rivers, will be seen laid down the different
positions of the ancient marks of tbeir towns which I have examined ; and also, nearly,
(though not exactly) the positions of the very numerous civilized fortifications which are
now remaining on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, in the vicinity of which I believe the
Mandans once lived.

These ancient fortifications, which are very numerous in that vicinity, some of which
enclose a great many acres, and being built on the banks of the rivers, with walls in some
places twenty or thirty feet in height, with covered ways to the water, evince a knowledge
of the science of fortifications, apparently not a century behind that of the present day,
were evidently never built by any nation of savages in America, and present to us
incontestable proof of the former existence of a people very far advanced in the arts of
civilization, who have, from some cause or other, disappeared, and left these imperishable
proofs of their former existence.

Now 1 am inclined to believe that the ten ships of Madoc, or a part of them at least,
entered the Mississippi river at the Balize, and made their way up the Mississippi, or that
they landed somewhere on the Florida coast, and that their brave and persevering colonists
made their way through the interior, to a position on the Ohio river, where they culti-
vated their fields, and established in one of the finest countries on earth, a flourishing
colony ; but were at length set upon by the savages, whom, perhaps, they provoked to
warfare, being trespassers on their hunting-grounds, and by whom, in overpowering hordes,
.hey were beseiged, until it was necessary to erect these fortifications for their defence, into
erhich they were at last driven by a confederacy of tribes, and tliere held till their ammu-
nition and provisions gave out, and they in the end have all perished, except, perhaps,
that portion of them who might have formed alliance by marriage with the Indians, and
their offspring, who would have been half-breeds, and of course attached to the Indians'
side ; whose lives have been spared in the general massacre; and at length, being de-
pised, as all half-breeds of enemies are, have gathered themselves into a band, and severing
from their parent tribe, have moved off, and increased in numbers and strength, as they
have advanced up the Missouri river to the place where they have been known for manv

260

years past by the name of the Mandans, a corruption or abbreviation, perhaps, of
" Madawgwys," the name applied by the Welsh to the followers of Madawc.

If this be a startling theory for the world, they will be the more sure to read the follow-
ing brief reasons which I bring in support of mv opinion ; and if they do not support me,
they will at least be worth knowing, and may, at the same time, be the means of eliciting
further and more successful enquiry.

As I have said, in page 9 of this Volume, and in other places, the marks of the Mandan
villages are known by the excavations oftwo feet or more in depth, and thirty or forty feet
in diameter, of a circular form, made in the ground for the foundations of their wigwams,
which leave a decided remain for centuries, and one that is easily detected the moment
that it is met with. After leaving the Mandan village, I found the marks of their former
residence about sixty miles below where they were then living, and from which they
removed (from their own account) about sixty or eighty years since ; and from the appear-
ance of the number of their lodges, I should think, that at that recent date there must have
been three times the number that were living when I was amongst them. Near the mouth
of the big Shienne river, 200 miles below their last location, 1 found still more ancient
remains, and in as many as six or seven other places between that and the mouth of the
Ohio, as I have designated on the chart, and each one, as I visited them, appearing more and
more ancient, convincing me that these people, wherever they might have come from, have
gradually made their moves up thebanks of the Missouri, to the place where I visited them.

For the most part of this distance they have been in the heart of the great Sioux country,
and being looked upon by the Sioux as trespassers, have been continually warred upon by
this numerous tribe, who have endeavoured to extinguish them, as they have been endea-
vouring to do ever since our first acquaintance with them ; but who, being always fortified
by a strong piquet, or stockade, have successfully withstood the assaults of their enemies,
and preserved the remnant of their tribe. Through this sort of gauntlet they have run, in
passing through the countries of these warlike and hostile tribes.

It may be objected to this, perhaps, that the Riccarees and Minatarees build their wig-
wams in the same way : but this proves nothing, for the Minatarees are Crows, from the
north-west ; and by their own showing, fled to the Mandans for protection, and forming
their villages by the side of them, built their wigwams in the same manner.

The Riccarees have been a very small tribe, far inferior to the Mandans ; and by the
traditions of the Mandans, as well as from the evidence of the first explorers, Lewis and
Clarke, and others, have lived, until quite lately, on terms of intimacy with the Mandans,
whose villages they have successively occupied as the Mandans have moved and vacated
«Jiem, as they now are doing, since disease has swept the whole of the Mandans away.

Whether my derivation of the word Mandan from Madawgwys be correct or not, I
will pass it over to the world at present merely as presumptive proof, for want of better,
which, perhaps, this enquiry may elicit ; and, at the same time, I offer the Welsh word
Mandon, (the woodroof, a species of madder used as a red dye,) as the name that might
possibly have been applied by their Welsh neighbours to these people, on account of their
very ingenious mode of giving the beautiful red and other dves to the porcupine quills
with which they garnish their dresses.

In their own language they called themselves See-pohs-ha-nu-mah-ka-kee, (the people
of the pheasants,) which was probably the name of the primitive stock, before they were
mixed with any other people ; and to have got such a name, it is natural to suppose that
they must have come from a country where pheasants existed, which cannot be found short
of reaching the timbered country at the base of the Rocky Mountains, some six or eight
luindred miles West of the Mandans, or the forests of Indiana and Ohio, some hundreds of
nales to the South and East of where they last lived.

The above facts, together with the other one which they repeatedly related to me, and
Ti hich I have before alluded to, that they had often been to the hill of the Red Pipe Slone,
and that they once lived near it, carry conclusive evidence, I think, that they have formerly
occupied a country much farther to the South ; and that they have repeatedly changed their
locations, until they reached the spot of their last residence, where they have met with
their final misfortune. And as evidence in support of my opinion that they came from
the banks of the Ohio, and have brought with them some of the customs of the civilized
people who erected those ancient fortifications, 1 am able to say, that the numerous speci-
mens of pottery which have been taken from the graves and tumuli about those ancient
works, (many of which maybe seen now, in the Cincinnati Museum, and some of which,
my own donations, and which have so much surpribcd the enquiring world,) were to be
seen in great numbers in the use of the Mandans ., and scarcely a day in the summer,
when the visitor to their village would not see the Bremen at work with their hands and

261

fingers, moulding them from black clay, into vases, cups, pitchers, and pots, and baking
them in their little kilns in the sides of the hill, or under the bank of the river.

In addition to this art, which 1 aui sure belongs to no other tribe on the Continent, these
people have also, as a secret with themselves, the extraordinary art of manufacturing a
very beautiful and lasting kind of blue glass beads, which they wear on their necks in great
quantities, and decidedly value above all others that are brought amongst them by the
Fur Traders.

This secret is not only one that the Traders did not introduce amongst them, but one
that they cannot learn from them ; and at the same time, beyond a doubt, an art that has
been introduced amongst them by some civilized people, as it is as yet unknown to other
Indian trihes in that vicinity, or elsewhere. Of this interesting fact, Lewis and Clarke
have given an account thirty-three years ago, at a time when no Traders, or other white
people, had been amongst the Mandans, to have taught them so curious an art.

The Mandan canoes whicli are altogether different from those of all other tribes, are ex-
actly the Welsh coracle, made o{ raw-hides, the skins of buffaloes, stretched underneath a
frame made of willow or other boughs, and shaped nearly round, like a tub ; which the
woman carries on her head from her wigwam to the water's edge, and having- stepped into
it, stands in front, and propels it by dipping her ^Add\e forward, and drawing it to ^er, in-
stead of paddling by the side. In referring to PLATE 240, letter c, page 138, the reader
will see several drawings of these seemingly awkward crafts, which, nevertheless, the
Mandan women will pull through the water at a rapid rate.

How far these extraordinary facts may go in the estimation of the reader, with numerous
others which I have mentioned in Volume I., whilst speaking of the Mandans, of their
various complexions, colours of hair, and blue and grey eyes, towards establishing my
opinion as a sound theory, I cannot say ; but this much I can safely aver, that at the mo-
ment thatlfirst saw these people, I was so struck with the peculiarity of their appearance,
that I was under the instant conviction that they were an amalgam of a native, with some
civilized race ; and from what I have seen of them, and of the remains on the Missouri
and Ohio rivers, I feel fully convinced that these people have emigrated from the latter
stream ; and that they have, in the manner that I have already stated, with many of their
customs, been preserved from the almost total destruction of the bold colonists of Madawc,
who, I believe, settled upon and occupied for a century or so, the rich and fertile banks
of the Ohio. In adducing the proof for the support of this theory, if I have failed to
complete it, I have the satisfaction that I have not taken up much of the reader's time, and
I can therefore claim his attention a few moments longer, whilst I refer him to a brief
vocabulary of the Mandan language in the following pages, where he may compare it with
that of the Welsh ; and better, perhaps, than I can, decide whether there is any affinity
existing between the two ; and if be finds it, it will bring me a friendly aid in support of
the position I have taken.

From the comparison, that I have been able to make, I think I am authorized to say, that
in the following list of words, which form a part of that vocabulary, there is a striking
similarity, and quite sufficient to excite surprise in the minds of the attentive reader, if it
could be proved that those resemblances were but the results of accident between two
foreign and distinct idioms.

Engliih. Mandan. Welsh. Pronounced.

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You Ne Chwi Chvve

He E A A

She Ea E A

It Ount Hwynt Hooynt

We Noo Ni Ne

„, Ti 1 Hwna mas Hoona

^^'y ^°°^^ Honaym Hona

Those ones Yrhai Hyna

No, or, there is not Megosh Nagoes Nagosh

t Nage

No ^ Nag

(.Na

,Head Pan Pen Pan

The Great Spirit . , Maho peneta Mawr penaethir* .... Maoorpanaether

Ysprid mawrf Uspryd maoor

* To act as a great chief — head or principal — sovereign or supreme,
t The Great Spirit.

262

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APPENDIX— C.

CHARACTER.— (Page 256.)

Original,

Secondary.

Original.

Secotuiary

Handsome

Ugly

Warlike

Peaceable

Mild

Austere

Proud

Humble

Modest

Diffident

Honest

Honest

Virtuous

Libidinous

Honourable

Honourable

Temperate

Dissipated

Ignorant

Conceited

Free

Enslaved

Vain

Humble

Active

Crippled

Eloquent

Eloquent

Affable

Reserved

Independent

Dependent

Social

TacitGrn

Grateful

Grateful

Hospitable

Hospitable

Happy

Miserable

Charitable

Charitable

Healthy

Sickly

Religious

Religious

Long-lived

Short-lived

Worshipful

Worshipful

Red

Pale-red

Credulous

Suspicious

Sober

Drunken

Superstitious

Superstitious

Wild

Wild

Bold

Timid

Increasing

Decreasing-

Straight

Crooked

Faithful

Faithful

Graceful

Graceless

Stout-hearted

Broken-hearted

Cleanly

Filthy

Indolent

Indolen

Brave

Brave

Full-blood

Mixed-blood

Revengeful

Revengeful

Living

Dying

Jealous

Jealous

Rich

Poor

Cruel

Cmcl

Landholders

Beggars

FINIS.

PRINTED BY J. E. ADLA.B,D, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.

^